Three's a Crowd
by flannel-SHIRT
Summary: Kagome's life is perfect. Or so she thought. After a completely innocent incident, Kagome's perfect life is torn apart. Now, she must choose between two men she truly loves, face a disaster to come and something that will change her life forever
1. Chapter 1: Innocence

_Life is a strange thing, don't you think? One minute, you can be on top of the world, the most amazing person existing, the next, a mere dot in the billions of this planet, ignored and unacknowledged. I believe everyone goes through this phase sometime in their life, sometimes there are people that suffer more greatly than others; yet, you always come out stronger and wiser. That's how become of my life. _

_When I joined the drug enforcement division, I was eager to make my mark in the world. After I had graduated at the police academy in Kyoto, I came to Tokyo, a notorious way station for drug traffic. Three years at the academy created an atmosphere, a desire for battle. That atmosphere is like a huge magnetic field, pulling you in. You can't escape, it controls you. That's what filled in the gap in my heart, but also created problems that changed me forever … _

* * *

"Full name." A young authoritative voice inquired, the firmness of the tone echoed off the blank walls surrounding them.

"Yasunari Kawabata."

"Age."

"Thirty-three."

A young woman, around twenty-five, tucked a stray strand of ebony hair behind her ear, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. How she longed for a hot shower and to strip her sweaty uniform. It stuck to her body uncomfortably, showing her curves she so modestly tried to hide. She blew her raven hair out of her weary face, which was drenched with sweat from her previous activity: catching the drug courier she was now questioning. Her body sagged in her chair and her appearance worn, but her brown eyes betrayed her emotions and danced with triumphant of catching the smuggler. After days of agonizing and strategizing, sleepless nights and stress, Kagome Higurashi managed to catch that courier wanted for months and months.

After another hour of questioning, the man was sentence to life. Kagome pushed her seat back eagerly, and walked out of the room she despised being in for the past hour. Her eyes immediately lit up when she saw her fiancé, Kouga sitting outside on the bench. The corners of her mouth tugged, and she had to resist the urge to run into his arms and tell him the mission she so successfully completed. But when she saw the look on his face, she was sure she knew what was coming.

Walking cautiously to him, she slipped in next to him and gave him a knowing smile.

The tall, dark and handsome man sitting next to her turned to her with an apologetic smile. Without wasting another minute, he spoke, "Kagome, I don't think…"

"That I'm suited for this job as a police officer and I should quit. I know, Kouga. I know." The young woman finished after him, as she slipped her arm around his.

Her fiancé sighed in a tired way, and turned his whole body to her. " Kagome, you know that being in the drug enforcement is a dangerous job, not suitable for a girl like you. I know, you're stronger and braver than most girls I know, of course, you're my woman… but I just don't think that it's a safe place to be."

The girl sighed and leaned back onto the bench. "Kouga, we go through this everytime, you know I love my job and I can't quit, it's just… my life revolves around…"

"Alright, I know," The man cut in, as if he was tired of hearing it every time. "I love my job as a journalist too, but if I move to Tokyo with you, what will I do? You know the only thing I like to do is spend time with you, _my_ woman…" He emphasized his point in showing care for his property.

Kagome couldn't help but smile at that. Kouga was always so protective of her, always so proud. He would never go to a place without bragging that he was to marry the top policeman in Kyoto, and he would call her almost a dozen times a day. Softening, the young police officer placed a hand over his. She grinned at him and playfully tweaked his nose. "You can be my housewife."

Kouga jerked his head towards her, and glared, but his eyes were filled with love and adoration. He locked his fiancée in an arm lock and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then together, they walked into the closest bullet train station and waited for the train.

Wrapping his arm around Kagome's small waist, he looked down at her with a smile. "By the time we get married, I promise you, I will become a full time housewife. How else will I take care of my sons and daughters?"

The woman in his arms immediately blushed, knowing Kouga was dropping a real big hint. She nodded timidly, but didn't answer. For some reason, she couldn't promise that they would have kids. No, it wasn't because she couldn't make any, or that she didn't love them, but she didn't feel it was the right time. She had too many things on her mind to be worrying about children.

To her relief, the train's head popped into the corner and screeched to a stop in front of them. Kagome gave her future husband a kiss on the cheek and pushed him inside, waving at him till she couldn't see him anymore. She smiled.

Two years ago, she had won the woman's TKD championship, Kouga covered the event. All the medalists had fallen in love with his blue eyes, dark hair and muscular figure. The way he'd smirk confidently and stand tall with pride beaming off his broad frame. But he only had eyes for her, and Kagome was glad.

Every time he visited, it was a 3 hour train ride; it wasn't easy for him, knowing his feisty attitude. He wouldn't be able to stay still for a minute, but he would still go on something way beyond his limit just to see her. Kagome sighed to herself. This was the man she would spend the rest of her life with. She was sure of it.

* * *

Kagome rode steadily on her pink bicycle down the road, admiring the blooming blossoms along the way. It was a tacky pink bike, but she had it since high school and didn't have the heart to throw it away. Or maybe she was too lazy to. Hm.

It was a warm spring day, around April, and Kagome was aware of all the kids shooting water at each other with their plastic water guns. She'd dodge them anytime she could, not because she didn't like them, it was because she was wearing white. Sneaking into a back alley, she relaxed and began to admire the atmosphere around her.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she breathed in the sweet scent of the blossoms, and let the tension in her body untangle. But just when it started to diminish, something wet and hard cascaded upon her. A bucketful of water.

She screamed, as the cold water descended onto her small frame. Drenched and surprised, she jerked her head up, just in time to see a bunch of kids on the rooftop of a house, holding empty buckets with a smirk on their face. She prepared to yell at them, but they made a face at her and ran before she had the chance. Kids. You gotta love them.

"Kids these days…" Kagome mumbled to herself, as she concentrated on squeezing the water out of her dark hair.

"Nothing but brats, that's what they are." A voice behind her agreed.

She gave a squeal, completely surprised that there was someone with her besides herself. She jumped and jerked around, and when she took a good look at whom it was, her breath hitched in her throat.

In front of her, was probably the most stunning man she ever saw in her life. Yes, Kouga was handsome, but this man was different. He had the longest silver locks of hair Kagome had ever seen, hair a woman would die to have. Intense amber eyes, something Kagome had never seen in her life, that almost drawn her to him. He was wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of red baggy pants … completely drenched, just like her.

She did nothing but stare at him, and it was then she realized and quickly turned away with a blush. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice, and crossed his arms with his brow knotted in the middle. He started to walk away, as if he hadn't seen her at all, and Kagome felt obligated to follow.

He stopped walking and turned his head sideways towards her. Kagome froze in her footsteps, and didn't dare to move. But as if he hadn't noticed her, so he continued to walk. Before she could blink, he had jumped over a fence and into somebody's house. Kagome gasped and ran ahead, just to see him come out the front door and throw her a towel.

She caught in on reflex, and looked at him with wide eyes. "Y-you, you can't do that…"

He smirked at her, and for an instant, reminded her of Kouga. "Then arrest me."

Without waiting for a response, the man had ducked back inside and was running. Kagome, knowing not what to do, and ran after him. When she got inside, she saw him petting a guard dog, that not too long ago, was barking at the strangers passing by.

It dawned upon her, that maybe, just maybe, this was HIS house.

"You live here?" she questioned slowly, ready to chase after him if she must.

"No, I don't. I just like to break into people's houses and steal their towels." He replied sarcastically. He turned his back towards her and walked into the house.

Kagome raised her eyebrows. Now what was she suppose to do? She was standing outside on a stranger's yard with the stranger's towel in her hands. Without thinking, she started wiping herself and taking in her surroundings.

It was beautiful to say the least. The house this man lived in was the biggest she'd seen in ages. Almost like a mansion. The garden was stretched to what seemed like miles, fountains, flowers and trees scattered everywhere. It was just plain beautiful.

"Here." A voice called to her. Kagome turned just in time to have something soft thrown directly at her face. Looking up, she found a red t-shirt, almost identical to his, smothered in her face. She picked it off, and looked at him questionably.

He stared back and gave her that trademark smirk. "I thought you might wanna change into something…dryer…"

Dumbly, she replied. "Why?"

Immediately, a light shade of pink crept upon his cheeks and he turned away with his finger pointed at her body.

She looked at what he was pointing at and would've died with embarrassment. Her white blouse had been soaked through, and her black laced bra was exposed for the world to see. She grabbed the t-shirt and ran inside his house.

* * *

"Kouga, I have to go now. I'm late for meeting somebody." Kagome smiled into the phone as she twirled the chord playfully.

She could almost see him pout and wince, and her smile grew at the image. Her guess was right because right after, he answered with a whiny voice, "Aw, must you? Where you going?"

She laughed at his boyish behavior and rolled her eyes. "I have to return something I borrowed. I'll call you when I get back."

"Alright, but if you don't call me within two hours, I'll call your captain and order a search party to find you." He warned in a playful way.

Kagome laughed at Kouga's protectiveness and hung up quickly, knowing if she didn't hurry, he would do exactly what he pleased.

She ran out the door of her apartment and rushed to a small shack selling drinks and snacks, where she had promised the boy she had met yesterday, Inuyasha, to return his shirt.

She walked through the crowd steadily, feeling slightly guilty of not telling Kouga the complete truth. That she had been thinking of those shocking amber eyes and stunning silver hair before she slept instead of thinking of her own fiancé. How would she say it: Oh nothing Kouga, I'm just going to meet a guy I've been thinking about last night that I met and is meeting him to return his shirt that I borrowed instead of borrowing yours?

No, it wouldn't work well.

Kagome knew it was wrong to think about another man… but he seemed so different. She had never seen anybody with those eyes and hair color…

"Yo, wench."

Kagome jumped at his voice, and kicked herself mentally for letting him get the best of her again. When she turned, he was staring at her with an amused smile on his face. She blushed, and quickly sat down with his shirt next to her.

"What?" she asked nervously, as she tried to focus her attention on something else. His stare was making her really uncomfortable.

"Nothing… I just don't see a woman everyday stand there in the middle of nowhere, staring at nothing. People might wonder."

Kagome blushed even harder and glared at him. "I was trying to find you."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and shifted his leg. Today, she noticed, he was wearing another red T-shirt with a pair of red tearaways. She also noticed that the red brought out the intensity in his eyes…

"What?" his voice caused her to jump from her analysis, and that's when she noticed she was staring.

Kagome brushed it aside casually, and shrugged. "Nothing. I just never saw person wear so much red before."

Inuyasha stared at her as if she was growing horns. Snorting, he picked up his glass of water and took a sip. "Is that all? Woman, you have to get out more often."

Inside, anger boiled within her guts. That insensitive, self-centered son of a…

"I haven't seen someone wear so much white before." Inuyasha suddenly complimented, causing the anger flowing within the girl's veins to dissipate.

She looked at herself, and realized she was wearing a white T-shirt. When she looked back at him to retort something, she realized he was staring at something under her neck. A shade of red crept upon her face, and she realized he must've remembered about that bra of hers. Hissing, she flailed her hand around her chest and grabbed his glass of water, splashing him with it.

It caught him totally off guard, and he blinked just in time as the water washed over him. Kagome gasped at what she had done, and didn't dare move. He wasn't moving either and she couldn't read the expression on his face.

Regret crept into her body, and she prepared to apologize, before feeling a glass of water being splashed at HER.

Squealing, she jumped out of her seat, earning curious stares and glares around them. Kagome pushed her heavy hair back, and saw a wet Inuyasha grinning at her wolfishly.

Before they knew it, they were grabbing anything filled with liquid and thrashing it at each other. People started to leave and Kagome didn't see the manager come out of his shack.

But Inuyasha did. Quickly, he grabbed her hand and made a run for it, jerking a surprised and embarrassed Kagome along with him. Before she could blink, she was in his white jeep and he was driving away from an angry owner chasing and yelling after him.

When reality finally dawned upon her, she looked at the leather seats she was currently sitting in. She was about to apologize for wetting it, when she realized he was taking her someplace when she barely knew him. Whipping her head to him, she used the voice she used on criminals that wouldn't spill the beans.

"Hey! Where're you taking me? Stop right this instant!"

Dripping wet, Inuyasha turned his head towards her and glared at her. "If you hadn't thrown that glass of water at me, we would've still been sitting at that shack and not getting banned from the restaurant, stupid."

Kagome choked and glared back at him. "Stupid?! Excuse me, but it wasn't MY fault I was forced to result to that decision. You were being a rude and insensitive male chauvinist so I couldn't think of no other choice but to do what I did!" Kagome tried to plant her hands on her hips, but she found it hard with a seat belt buckled tightly to her body. Instead, she jabbed her finger at his arm and added, "Besides, nobody ever said we were banned from the restaurant, STUPID!" she shot back mockingly.

Inuyasha wriggled his arm so she'd stop poking and rolled his eyes. "We screwed up the place practically and scared away customers. Of COURSE we're banned. How dense can you get, wench?"

Kagome moved forward and poked him again, secretly pleased that he stiffened. "You know I got a name right? Besides wench, woman and stupid…"

"That's nice, wench… now can you stop poking me?!"

"It's not wench! And I will not stop jabbing at you, which is what I'm doing because a jab is much more forceful than a poke and I am obviously…"

The frustrated boy jerked towards her and threw daggers this time. "Alright! If I call you by your name, will you shut up?!"

"YES!"

"Then what is it?!"

"Kagome! KA-GO-ME! Kagome!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the jeep suddenly jerked off course, and began rummaging through a forest. Branches, leaves and anything else started flying into the opened windows, causing Kagome to shriek and flail her arms, which resulted to slapping her companion, currently trying to get the jeep back on track.

Bumps, leaves, sticks, scraped Kagome's face and she couldn't help but scream some more and think of all the bugs and flies crawling over her. After that thought, her screaming went hysterical and Inuyasha was even more desperate to stop the car.

"Do something!" The woman managed to ground out in a shrill voice.

"I'm trying if you would stop screaming so mother…" THUD, SCREAM. "-ing LOUD!"

"I can't help I… OMGOSH, watch out!" Kagome screeched as a wide trunk of a tree emerged in front of her eyes.

"Wha…" Inuyasha turned his eyes towards to road, and his widened when he saw what was ahead of them. Frantically, his foot tried to find the brake that all the leaves and branches were covering. Finally, he felt something hard and pressed on it. Luckily, it wasn't the accelerator, and the car jerked to a stop.

Both riders were lurched forward, and then thrown back against their seat. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact of the tree VS them to descend on her. But after moments of ragged breathing, nothing. She opened her eyes slowly, and found the tree right in front of them. On reflex, she opened her mouth to scream.

"NO!" A voice yelled next to her, followed by a hand cupping her open mouth. She gave a 'hmphed' and bit on the flesh covering her source of voice. A loud 'DAMMIT!' was sound and Kagome knew it was safe to scream again. But before any voice could project out of her vocals, another hand had been slapped over her mouth.

Flinching, Kagome's eyes roamed next to her, to see a leafy and dirty Inuyasha shaking the hand she had recently bitten and a dangerous glare he had conjured up for her.

Timidly 'tee-hee'ing, Kagome pulled his hand off of her lips and smiled at him, hoping it would lessen his anger.

But it didn't.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?! You could've made me deaf along with the rest of the forest…"

"What the hell was _I_ doing?! What the hell were YOU doing?! You could've KILLED us!"

The shocked man pointed at himself dramatically, before jerking himself forward and yelling, "If you hadn't been so damn stubborn I wouldn't have taken my eyes off the track!"

Kagome moved forward as well, until their noses were almost touching. She glared at him and yelled back with just as much force, "Oh yeah, it's ALWAYS my fault isn't it?!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to shout back at her, before his face turned a light shade of pink. Kagome furrowed her brows and was about to question why, before she realized it too. They were so close; they could be on the range of touching each others' lips.

On reflex, the two jerked apart, as if it was two magnets propelled towards each other. The two turned away, hoping the other wouldn't see their own blushes. Something had stirred between them, but both rather not define. Instead, a silence lapsed between them and Kagome found it more uncomfortable than staying in a cell with a murderer.

She was about to break the silence when her companion cleared his throat. Gratefully, she turned towards him and saw him turning on the ignition.

"Car's fine," he reported gruffly, before pulling the jeep out of the forest faster than Kagome had recalled. "I'm dropping you back at the shack, since I dunno where you live."

The awkwardness between them immediately disappeared when Kagome gasped and turned to him with wide eyes. "What?! No way! They might arrest me for screwing up the place!"

"Then they should." The man replied with a teasing tone in his voice. He turned towards her, playfulness hinting in his eyes and Kagome couldn't help but feel playful too. It was way better than not talking…

She gave him a light punch on the arm and protested, "No! You were part of it too! I'm not gonna take the rap when I didn't do anything!"

"YOU didn't do ANYTHING?"

"No, I didn't!"

Kagome looked at him with fire blazing in her brown orbs, and he looked right back at her. Suddenly, they both broke into a grin and smiled at each other. Kagome knew, she had just made a new friend.

* * *

**Author's Note: **It may start very draggy at first, it will get better, I promise! I've actually written out the plot for the first time ever, and I'm proud to say, it's actually got a plot! Crazy eh ;) Anyways, thanks to my editor, Red-Rain69, who is now IamBROKEN for editing and thanks to you guys for reading. Oh yeah, and please review. Flames, praises, comments, WHATEVER! I'm bulletproof... so fire away!


	2. Chapter 2: A Little Slip

_After that incident with Inuyasha, I couldn't get my mind off him. I felt guilty whenever I was around Kouga, as if I was hiding something from him that I wasn't suppose to be doing. But deep inside, I knew, I hadn't done anything to wrong myself or Kouga. But yet again, it would not explain the strange feeling stirring in my gut whenever I thought of that silver-haired boy…_

_At the academy, I'm the top officer they have. Here I am, considered I rising star and the best of the best... I'm in love with Tokyo's most talented journalist and he was madly in love with me. I had everything I wanted in my life, and even more, I should be happy… but Inuyasha was the first to uncover my weakness… and my uncertainty. _

* * *

Kagome hung up the phone, and waited for the butterflies in her stomach to settle down. It had been two days since the incident at the forest, and Kagome was surprised that Inuyasha had called her to go to the lake with him. And even more surprised of how he got her number. She had asked him how and why he wanted to go to the lake, but all he had only said: "Must you woman always be so damn nosy? Just get here and you'll find out!"

She smiled at that, and couldn't help but giggle. She had just met him, but it felt like she knew him for ages. She shrugged off the fuzzy feeling building within her and slipped her coat on. She wondered why he was taking her to the lake, but trusted him and promised herself to she ask him the moment she got there.

Slipping out of her house, she almost choked when she realized who was outside waiting for her.

The one and only Inuyasha and his little white jeep.

He leaned against his car and smirked his trademark smirk at her, as if going: Well, what do you think?

What do I think…? Kagome's nostrils almost flared. She stomped up to him and jabbed him in the chest, glaring at him. "How did you know I lived here? Did you stalk me? Did you trace me?! STALKER!!"

Inuyasha, looking disgusted, rolled his eyes at her and moved her a few inches away from him. Crossing his arms, he looked at her triumphantly, "First of all, I am not a stalker. But yeah, I did follow you home. It's not my fault; you still had my shirt after all."

Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but closed it when she realized he had a point. But she refused to be backed down by the likes of him, so she crossed her own arms and stuck out her tongue at him. "So?"

"Keh," The silver-haired boy shook his head and turned towards her car, opening the driver's seat. "Whatever kid, just get in, we're going to the lake."

"Why?" Kagome asked suspiciously as she climbed into the passenger. She was still paranoid about the accident two days ago.

"Because I said, so shut up and buckle." He answered rudely as he pulled the car out of her curb.

"Wait a minute… did you just call me a 'kid' a second ago?"

And so, that set off another argument, and the long, long trip to the lake seemed like only seconds. When Kagome finally broke the argument by pulling down her lower eyelid towards him and jerking herself towards the window, she finally realized they weren't in the heart of Tokyo anymore. They were on the outskirts of it, the border, where you see nothing but country, trees and pure nature. Her eyes widened at it, and she couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Impressed eh?" Inuyasha quipped next to her. She turned towards him with a surprised look. His voice held no sarcastic remark, no insult, just a simple, 'Impressed eh?'

"Did you just sound nice?" she asked, as if in awe. He ignored her and kept his eyes glued to the road, not that Kagome mind.

"Why, do you want me to sound angry?"

"No, continue."

"Nothing, I just expected you to be impressed. My mother was when I took her here the first time."

At this, Kagome got interested. She turned away from the window and towards him. "Your mother?"

Kagome swore she saw Inuyasha stiffen slightly, but when she blinked, he was just shrugging good-naturally. "She…'s not here anymore."

"She died?" Kagome gasped. "That's horrible! How?!" For once the concern was beginning to surface in her voice.

That must've been a little personal, because Inuyasha suddenly grew rigid and a cold aura radiated off his body. Kagome kicked herself mentally for it and immediately apologized.

Luckily, he dropped it and just shrugged, nodding that they were here. Kagome turned to look, but was only greeted by huge waves of water splashing onto the windshield. She squealed, when she realized Inuyasha had driven them right into the lake, sending crashes of water coming at them.

She laughed, and he smirked. When the car stopped, Kagome jumped out onto the lake, ecstatic at the view. Inuyasha followed, bending down at the water, watching her.

"Hey, Kagome?"

Kagome, who was busy admiring the beautiful scenery, grew stiff and turned her head towards him, totally unbeknownst of his devilish plan. "Hey! You called me by my…EEEK!"

Water had slapped her in the face, and she almost stumbled backwards, but managed to catch her balance on time. Something inside her rose, and she could tell a challenge when she sensed one. Before anyone could blink, a water fight had arisen between them.

"Stop! Stop! You're cheating!" the girl shrieked with delight as water totaled her. She tried to shield herself, but to no avail, the water still managed to get to her.

"Ha! You're just saying that 'cos you're losing!" Inuyasha yelled back, as he gathered another proportion of water in his hands and splashed it at her.

"Oh yeah?! Watch this!" Without any warning, Kagome rushed right to Inuyasha, head butting him into the lake. But that only got her falling into it as well.

Kagome felt herself slam into something hard and water filled her nostrils. She coughed and choked, and when she opened her eyes, found herself sitting in somebody's lap, the water having risen up to her waist.

She looked around, and was greeted by a pair of hands covered over her eyes. She screamed, half laughing, half gasping. A voice behind her teased gruffly, "Watch this eh? I couldn't quite see what you were trying to do."

Kagome laughed, and tried to pry his hands off of her, "Hey! Get off Inuyasha!" with a hearty laugh, she jumped off him and ended up losing her balance again.

Inuyasha laughed at her, but had managed to grab her hand just in time to steady her. She laughed and ended up rolling into his chest. She leaned her head against it and sighed as he watched the noon day's sun at the top of the mountain.

Kagome closed her eyes as she relaxed against his defined chest. It was so oddly pleasant, she felt so safe, never so safe since she'd join the Academy. Something at the back of her head was nagging at her, telling her she was doing something wrong, but she brushed it aside and bent down to wash her face.

After unsuccessfully trying to squeeze all the water out of her clothes, she ran out onto the shore and sat on the grassy plain. She let the wind blow up her skirt and through her hair, letting all her worries fly away with it.

"I told you it was great up here." A voice said behind her as a figure sat itself next to her.

"No you didn't," She replied happily as she breathed in the freshness in the atmosphere.

"Keh," he answered her and looked at the sky with her. It was a calm moment, and for once, Inuyasha wished it wouldn't end.

"You like knocking people and yourself over don't you?" he inquired after a long moment's of comfortable silence.

The girl next to him opened her eyes and gave a hearty laugh. "No, only you."

Inuyasha stiffened at the way it sounded, but relaxed when she just laughed at him and got up.

After hours of talking and argument, the two decided it was time to leave. The sun had begun to set and the sky dark. As they climbed inside the jeep, smiles were evident on their faces… even Inuyasha, who hadn't smiled so much since his mother died...

Kagome blew a messy strand of hair out of the way, and the moment she looked at Inuyasha, burst into laughter. It was like they had a secret joke they had between themselves, it was something special. Kagome was sure, Inuyasha and her would go far together, best of friends… even though they constantly bickered and argued. That's what friends do right?

But one thing she couldn't help wonder why was why he wanted to bring her here besides the fact that he wanted to show the fantastic view. They've only known each other for so long…

Kagome's little reverie was interrupted when Inuyasha cursed. She looked at him with concern and watched as he tried to back the car up. But to her surprise, the car only moved several centimeters, then stopped moving. The engine sputtered and taunted them, but didn't do anything more. It was then they realized, they were stuck.

"We're stuck!" Kagome announced as she hopped out of the car.

"Brilliant, wench." Inuyasha retorted as he bent to take a look at the wheels. It seemed that the wheels had been in the mud too long, and it had risen up to the metal plate. Inuyasha pulled a shovel out of the trunk and started to shovel the mud out, and Kagome, who felt bad for not helping looked around for a tool. She spotted a sharp rock and picked it up, sauntering over to him.

"Let's wedge it with a rock," she suggested, and he nodded to her. Carefully, she bent to him and tried to wedge the wheel up, only ending up accidentally dropping the rock and splashing dirt water to their faces. Kagome gave a squeal, and she was sure Inuyasha was going to yell the heck out of her. But to her surprise, he did nothing but…

laughed?

Kagome raised her eyebrows at him. When did he get so nice? Shouldn't he be glaring daggers at her and barking at her to be more careful? But no, here he was, laughing at her mistake with that hearty laugh of his. Then, to add more to her surprise, he turned to her, and smiled.

Suddenly, a warm feeling flushed over her face, and before Kagome knew it, she was blushing. She turned around and slapped her hands over her cheeks, panicked that it was warm. Butterflies from earlier that day had resurfaced and was flying crazily inside her stomach. _What… what's wrong with me?! Why is my heart beating so fast?! _

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked from behind with the smallest hint of concern in his tone.

"Yes, I'm okay, I just got mud in my eye," Quickly, the girl started to rub her eye in emphasis.

Thinking he would buy it and leave it alone, she was wrong. He bought it alright, but only made him worry about her. Getting up he walked towards her and touched her shoulder. "You okay? Lemme see it…"

"NO!" she immediately cried, almost shouted. "I'm okay! It's… it's just a little mud in… my eye."

Behind him, she could almost see his eyebrows furrow and look suspiciously at her. The grip on her shoulder tightened, and his voice grew harder. "Well, your eye could get infected stupid; let me take a look at it alright…?"

"NO! I'm okay!" Kagome insisted, but couldn't stop Inuyasha from turning her around and making them face to face.

Kagome held her breath, afraid to do anything as Inuyasha peered into her eyes, trying to figure out the problem.

Slowly, Kagome watched as his eyes began to soften, and the grip on her shoulder lessened. Kagome watched on as his breath on her face grew warmer, and his nose getting so close, it brushed against her own. His eyes, so intense and filled with something unexplainable, sucked her soul in and she could almost feel herself being drowned into those amber pools. Her body went weak, and she had to struggle to stay standing. Around her, sounds of droplets of water making contact with the lake water sounded, indicating that it was raining. It couldn't have been a more romantic moment, and a more wrong moment at the same time.

Suddenly, Kagome was seized with panic. She knew what was going to happen; he was going to kiss her! Half of her told her to stay, but the other half told her it wasn't a good idea. Kagome couldn't help but release a whimper, something just enough to snap Inuyasha out of his trance. He jerked apart from her and backed away with wide eyes, almost tripping on a lump of mud. He looked around, looking confused, as if he had just woken up from a spell he had been on. Slowly, she watched as he began to collect himself, gaining his composure. Soon, he was looking away and walking towards the car, jerking the driver's seat open and climbing in. Quickly, Kagome followed, almost afraid to go in and face the silence.

When she climbed in and closed the door, she kept her eyes trained on her lap. Next to her, Inuyasha wasn't looking at her either, as he focused himself on the wheel. _What was I doing? I almost… almost…_kissed _her. _

"Well, let's try again." Kagome's voice cut through his astonished thoughts. He peered at her with surprise at the corner of his eye to see her looking outside with a smile on her face, pretending that nothing had ever happened.

He didn't know to feel either grateful or disappointed, but nodded numbly and tried to turn the engine on. It roared in their ears, and Inuyasha pulled the rear and tried to back up the car once again. But to no avail, the car hit a bump and sputtered a bit, before cutting off the engine once more. Inuyasha sighed in defeat, and heard Kagome slap the dashboard with frustration. He looked at her and she looked at him, and before they knew it, they were laughing, the tension between them gone again.

But just as Inuyasha felt comfortable, the silence came, and the awkwardness crept into his gut, building the same tension between them that they both despised so much. He knew, if there was silence, he was going to do something he might regret. But watching that innocent look on her face, that clueless sparkle in her brown eyes, Inuyasha couldn't help but let a warm feeling wash over him like a tidal wave. Her dark curls were amiss, sprawled over her dirt caked face, but nonetheless, he thought she was…beautiful. _Yes_, beautiful.

Something in him pulled him towards her, and he didn't have the strength to fight back. And the next time he looked, he was kissing her, she was letting him. And so, they spent a glorious night together, filled with ecstasy and everything else that was wrong.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Same old drill, make me smile with a simple review. Like I said before, flames, praises, comments, WHATEVER! Oh yes, and thanks to RedxRain (Previously Red-Rain69 - IamBROKEN) for editing, she's the best ;) She's also a great writer, so go read her stories! Go go go! (After you read mine right?! RIGHT?!)


	3. Chapter 3: Unwanted Surprise

_After that night with Inuyasha, I knew, my life would not be the same from this day on. Was it a mistake? That, I cannot answer. Although deep in my heart, I knew, if it happened to come out, my life would be over… and the walls I so carefully put up would come crashing at my feet. It may even jeopardize my relationship with Kouga. Oh yes, Kouga. Guilt had crashed upon me when I realized I had forgotten all about Kouga. How could I have? I love the man; I should've been spending every waking moment of my life thinking about him. But here I am, going on life pretending as a single woman, and worst of all, thinking of another. _

_Inuyasha. _

_I hated him for coming into my life, but a part of me also thanked him. I felt young again, rejuvenated, and… content? I hated myself for feeling so. I knew I was suppose to be happy, but not with Inuyasha. I was suppose to be filled with laughter and peace… with Kouga. But I wasn't. _

* * *

The young woman working furiously at her half polished shoe, took a pause to wipe her drenched forehead. The sun wasn't so much as blazing today, but Kagome couldn't help but feel anxiety pouring into the pit of her stomach. Something was nagging at her at the back of her mind, but she refused to reach out to it. Instead, she spent her entire morning scrubbing away at her shoes, which looked more worn than before. But she had to take her mind off everything. Off …

"Kagome?!"

The woman in question froze in her seat, and on reflex, jerked her head towards the sound of attraction. The door.

A loud pounding followed, and Kagome had to mentally kick herself when she felt her hand tingle, signaling it was going to her side to pull her gun out. She knew who it was. He was no harm.

Or was he?

All night she couldn't sleep. Instead, she spent her time thinking of him. They've only met for a few days, only went out for a few times, but she still went with him. It was then she realized, she knew nothing about him! He could be a crook, a murderer, a wanted criminal… but she still went with him. What made her give in so easily? What made him so special that made her forget about Kouga… her supposed love and future husband.

"Kagome!" his voice pierced through the door, and Kagome resisted flinching. Guilt was gnawing away at her stomach, and she wanted to do everything but open that door and let him in. After that night, she couldn't face him, and she didn't want to face the reason why either.

"Kagome!" His voice came at her again like bullets to a target, and she could hear his patience begin to creep away. She didn't dare breathe. Maybe if she pretended nobody was home, he'd leave.

She listened as the pounding on the door got louder, and his voice more persistent. Then suddenly, he stopped. Kagome's ears strained to hear if he was still there, but there was no sound. Breathing a sigh of relief, Kagome prepared to get up and check outside, before a loud pound crashed against her door once again.

She almost squealed and fell on her behind, but she clapped her hands over her mouth with widened eyes. Did he hear her?

"Kagome, I can see your shoes out here! You're home and I know it! Open the door right now… if you don't, I'll break it down I swear!"

Something in his tone made her believe, and with the blink of an eye, she was up on her feet and at the opened door, revealing a weary looking Inuyasha and an angry looking one at that.

"Why didn't you open the door?" his first question was, as he glared at her, confirming her doubts whether he was really angry or not.

Kagome shrugged casually, feigning boredom. "D-didn't hear you." She flinched visibly when a tremor stuck her voice, and Inuyasha caught it.

"You know very well you heard me. What's going on? You know we have to talk…"

Kagome flung her body towards him with fury blazing in her eyes. "Talk about what?! There's nothing we have to talk about, nothing at all! Everything's a dandy, why talk and ruin it all?" Her voice was getting higher and higher, but she couldn't help it. Reality was beginning to surface, and she didn't like it one bit. Not one bit.

The man in front of her looked at her with the same fire burning in his eyes; he clenched his teeth and pointed at her. "You're just trying to hide from it all, and you know it. You know after what we did we have to do something about it!"

"What did we DO, Inuyasha?!" The girl cried, helplessness evident in her voice. She looked at him with a desperate plea in her bright orbs and Inuyasha had to fight giving in.

But yet, the look on pleading face softened him, and the anger rolling around in his gut almost subsided. Almost.

Looking at her as if he hadn't felt a thing, he crossed his arms, showing his biceps and workout results for the world to see. Kagome had to bite back a groan of exasperation, hating him for showing his beauty at a time like this. It would've been a lot easier to hate him if he was ugly.

"You know exactly what we did Kagome! What if something happens after this?! How can you just drop it like it's a regular routine to wake up and brush your teeth? Come on, get real! It isn't and you know it!" he argued as he slapped his hand in his palm, as if it would wake her from her desperate dream. Dream that none of this had ever happened to neither of them.

Suddenly, Kagome got weary. Her body gave in, and she could feel the energy in her system drain. "Inuyasha, please leave." She said quietly, as she began to massage her throbbing temples.

But Inuyasha didn't listen, and went on yelling at her. "LEAVE?! How can I leave when all this is happening! You can't shrink away from your responsibilities, this was part of you too! How can I just lea…"

Closing her eyes, Kagome had to concentrate on standing still. The background was ringing and a vile taste began to rise in her throat. So, without thinking, she blurted out the one thing she should have told him from day one. "Inuyasha, I have a fiancé."

Her eyes snapped open, and her hand immediately went to her mouth. What did she just say? She knew that she had to tell him, but the other half of her was screaming. She didn't know why, but the first thing on her mind was what Inuyasha was thinking.

Quickly looking up, she glanced briefly at his face. It was blank. There was no expression written on his face, and she was sure, she had hurt him. Right?

He opened his mouth to speak, and she was certain another bloody argument would sure ensue. She looked down at her feet, not expecting a simple:

"Really?"

She looked up at him, surprised. His face was blank with a small raise in his brows. But no anger. No frustration, no extreme shock, nothing. Just a simple, 'really?' and a raise of his brows.

Not knowing what to do, she just nodded and kept her eyes at the ground. "Yes."

"Do you love him?"

She nodded quickly to his answer. She wished he would drop the subject. For some reason, she wasn't comfortable talking about Kouga in front of him.

"What's his name?"

It was more of a statement than a fact, and she hesitated to tell him. "K-Kouga."

"Alright then," In his voice, was a hint of challenge. She looked at him slightly, and saw him with the same crossed arms and blank expression. But this time, she was sure she saw a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"His name is Kouga right? Fine. Say 'I love Kouga.'. Come on, say it."

Suddenly, something he said made Kagome angry. Real angry. She didn't know why, but what he was forcing her to do, just made her plain angry.

With a glare, she said through clenched teeth. "Inuyasha, please, can you not?"

"No." was his blunt reply. All it did was increase her temper.

"Leave."

Inuyasha looked at her with surprise evident in his eyes. "What?"

"I said leave." Her voice began to grow hard, and Inuyasha could barely make out her face with her dark bangs covering her eyes. Nevertheless, he felt it was wise to leave. He asked his question, and he got the answer.

Without saying a word, he turned around and stalked out of her door. She could hear him starting up his jeep, and the sound of wheels running down the path disappeared.

When the last roar of his engine faded, Kagome's body immediately gave in and slumped itself against her apartment door. She slid down from it, and when she reached the bottom, she cried.

* * *

"Move."

Was the simple word that sent the five officers scurrying into their positions.

Kagome and four other of her colleagues pressed themselves against the apartment walls and glanced at Madam Kaede, a short aged woman. Surprisingly, this plain old looking old lady was leading the pack. You could look at her and not know she was the best police officer that ever lived in Tokyo, arresting over a thousand of criminals and fighting for justice for forty years.

Everybody at the academy looked up onto her, even though she was the shortest of them all. With her small beady eyes, long graying ponytail and an eye patch for a blinded right eye, Madam Kaede would've been the first target for a criminal. That's what she wanted you to think.

Moving swiftly up to a door marked 315, the chief nodded at Kagome to knock on the door. Each officer had a gun out and was crouched down, ready to attack their target: Kagura Kamikaze – drug courier wanted for years.

Knocking lightly onto the wooden door, Kagome cleared her throat, "Housekeeping.

There was a loud crash inside and an incoherent curse, before somebody yelled out in a muffled voice, "What is it?!"

"Housekeeping." Kagome repeated as she clutched onto her gun a little tighter. Something in the woman's voice warned her to be cautious. She sounded like a feisty one.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and a woman covering a yawn stood before them. Kagome sucked in her breath when she saw her face. She was utterly beautiful. With perfectly pinned up dark hair and crimson eyes, heart-faced shape and hourglass figure, Kagome knew she would be the spotlight in a crowd. But that wasn't her duty to analyze her targets out. It was to catch them.

"Police!" She shouted as she pointed her gun at the courier.

Gasping, the woman snapped up from her sleepiness and slammed the door behind her. Kagome fired, but there was no sound, indicating that she had missed. She kicked the door open, and when it was, she found the woman running out of the room with a large green bag clutched in her hands.

"Kagura! Freeze!" She yelled as she chased after the fleeting woman with her gun poised in the air.

Kagome watched as Kagura's figure disappeared inside the kitchen and quickly, she backed against the wall and listened attentively.

There was no sound, and Kagome knew Kagura was hiding.

She took a peek, as her workers rushed up to her and crouched behind her. There was nothing in sight, and so carefully, she stepped inside the kitchen with her gun locked, her finger brushing against the trigger.

Slowly, her lone footsteps made her way across the kitchen, and she glanced back at her colleagues who were stooping at the entrance of the door. And when she turned, something hard and cold slammed against her face.

Pain pierced through her head as she felt herself fall backwards with a surprised cry. The back of her head made contact with the tiled floor, and she could feel blood spurting out of her forehead. A loud commotion sounded behind her as the sound of something metal clanked against the ground.

"Freeze!" she heard Kaede order, and a gasp was heard.

"Drop the bag now!" Kaede's voice continued through her throbbing head. Something soft dropped to the ground, and she breathed a sigh of relief on the floor, knowing that Kagura had been cornered.

"Kagome, are you alright?" One of her officer friend's said to her through all the haze. She struggled to stand, and she felt a hand pull her to her feet. She stood up, wobbly but standing, and nodded, holding her bleeding forehead. In the corner of her eye, she could see a metal garbage bin sitting nicely at the bottom of Kagura's feet. She glanced up at woman, flinching as blood got in her eyes. And just that action caused her to miss Kagura narrow her eyes, and mouth: 'You will pay.'

* * *

"Why should I speak?" a velvety voice echoed through the dark room.

"It'll keep you alive, for one thing." Another spoke, wise and calm sounding.

"For how many years?"

The old woman leaned forward towards the handcuffed criminal across the table from her. "No more than ten. 20 kilos of pure heroin is not a small crime."

She watched as a flash of regret passed through her eyes, and continued to watch as they hardened once again. After a long period of silence, Kagura's shoulders sagged, and her composure just left itself. Kaede gave a small smile. Kagura had given up.

"At the Taiheiyo Enkai Ferry."

"Be more specific."

"Tomorrow at the Taiheiyo Enkai Ferry 7:30pm sharp, there will be a man."

"Who is he?"

"I don't know. He'll be carrying an elephant duffel bag, and I will say to him: "Do you know if it will rain today?" and he will answer: "No, but tomorrow it will." Then we exchange bags after said signals."

"Thank you, Kagura." Madam Kaede wrote the last detail down on her pad, and nodded at the two officers. As they stood Kagura up and took her away, Kaede reached across to the phone and dialed a number. "Kagome? We have a job for you."

* * *

Kagome pulled her jeans jacket tighter on her body, as the wind seeped between the smallest cracks of her clothing. She squinted to see ahead of her and stumbled upon the ferry with the oversized green bag Kagura had been carrying yesterday. It contained approximately $90,000 and Kagome wondered where Kagura had gotten all that money for so much heroin. Oh right, she must've sold as well.

The boat unexpectedly rocked, and Kagome had to struggle to stay on her feet without exposing her gun at her side. She wrapped the hem of her jacket tighter around her weapon and swallowed. She looked around, noticing everybody was paying attention to their own thing. Then she began to walk around, trying to spot a man with an elephant duffel bag.

It was nearing the end of the ferry trip, and Kagome was starting to get desperate. Where was the man? Did he bail out on her?

"It's going to rain today."

Kagome jerked around at the sound of the voice, only to find a man speaking to a young child in his arms. "So mommy doesn't want you to go near the edge of the boat, okay?"

She sighed in relief, but began to tense when she realized the dock was approaching and she had yet to find the dealer she must catch. She walked through the crowds, looking at every bag, and then, she saw it.

A man bent down and unzipped a large canvas bag. He looked around for a second, and then took out a second bag. It had an elephant on it.

Kagome's heart began to race, this must be him! She approached cautiously, ready to defend herself it needed, and then he turned.

Her hand immediately flew to her mouth, and the bag dropped from her hands.

"I-Inuyasha?"

* * *

**Authors Note: **Holy moly, I am so sorry for the long delay! But here it is and I'm not so happy with it. Like dude, it's only the third chapter and I'm already slacking off. But I promise, I will work harder on the next chapters, really! But I'll warn you now, my updates might take longer than before, because I have to juggle with schoolwork, exams and other extracurricular activities that I've joined. But I won't forget you guys! Don't worry : ) So, same old drill by the way, simply review me to make me smile! And thanks to RedxRain for editing, she's the best !

>> **Kamikaze **- Divine wind


	4. Chapter 4: Secret Revealed

_Can you believe how I felt when I saw his face on the ship? It had been a mistake, it had to be. It couldn't be, and I wished that I would fall out of bed and wake up from this nightmare. But when I blinked, I was still standing there, clutching tightly at my big green bag, staring into his amber orbs which were filled with confusion and surprise. He couldn't be the courier… could he? But why? Why was he doing this? _

_All I wanted to do was to turn around and run for it. Dock was approaching, and I could've ran off easily and pretended that I never saw him. But it was my job, and I had to arrest him. But maybe he wasn't really the courier, maybe he's just another person with an elephant duffel bag. Maybe we can laugh about this later, and joke over how stupid this all sounded. But for some reason, deep inside, I knew, we wouldn't be. _

* * *

Kagome's hands were trembling as she struggled to hold the bag still. She could feel the cash inside rolling around on one side, ready to fall out of the partially opened zipper… but she couldn't concentrate. All she could see was that Inuyasha standing right in front of her, holding the elephant duffel bag.

He was the courier.

She couldn't believe it. It wasn't true, was it? But he couldn't be! He _can't_!

Somebody bumped against her and she blinked, waking up from her confused and terrifying-struck thoughts. Kagome looked around her surroundings, and people were beginning to pick up their belongings and gather towards the railing. But Kagome couldn't move.

She had to make sure he was really who he was, who she thought he was. She prayed that he wasn't the one she had to arrest, because it was like losing something. A part of her.

In a quiet, shaky voice, she managed out, "D-do you know if… it will rain today?"

He looked at her with his beautiful eyes, and she wished that he would never answer her. She wished they could stand here forever, holding the moment for eternity. She was scared. She was. She was afraid of what he would say… and what she would have to do.

But finally, he answered, confirming all her questions… and fear.

He looked at her squarely in the eye and whispered, "No, but tomorrow it will."

After the last words left his mouth, Kagome felt her world crash down onto her. It had to be a joke right? Inuyasha couldn't be the courier… he was rich enough, wasn't he? Why must he continue doing this, even though he was obviously loaded with cash and wealth?

She didn't move, but neither did he. People were boarding off the ship, bumping into both of them, but neither dared to move. Finally, it was he who tore away his gaze from her. He looked at the ground, and then back up again.

"Why're you doing this?" his voice came out in a mere whisper, and Kagome couldn't find the right words to answer him.

She swallowed instead and replied to him in just as hoarse whisper, "W-why are _you_?"

He didn't answer her but something unexplainably flashed across his auriferous eyes. He looked away with sagged shoulders, as if he was ashamed of being exposed to her. For a second, Kagome wanted to hug him and tell him that everything's going to be alright. But she knew herself, it wasn't going to be.

Without thinking, she reached forward and dropped the heavy load right at his feet. He looked up at her with a tint of surprise in her eyes, but then a painfully blank expression swept over his features. He dropped his bag at her feet, and then grabbed Kagome's and swung it over his shoulders, with the same neutral look plastered over his face.

Kagome picked up her bag with her head down and turned to walk away. She just wanted to keep looking at the ground and just get out of there. But something pulled her back, and the next thing she knew was that she was facing him with unshed tears, shimmering in her eyes. "Inuyasha…"

"Get off the boat." He told her.

His eyes were so empty, so dead… Kagome just wanted to cry. Her heart felt as if it had broken in two, and all she wanted to do was to run into his arms and slap him out of his trance. But in the corner of her eye, she could see the police lights flashing. Her crew was here, and she had to give them the merchandise. So very slowly, she nodded and turned around, walking off the boat… ignoring the bloodcurdling screams erupting from the man behind her, as the policemen brutally forced him down, pinning his face and body onto the ground. Arresting him.

* * *

"What do you think you were doing!"

Furious and out of composure, the old woman jerked her heads towards the young woman in the chair with her hands knotted tightly in her lap.

Madam Kaede narrowed her eyes at the woman in the chair and continued to bark, "There are so many dangerous people in Tokyo, and you just happen to pick one of the most dangerous! You can't just pick someone up and decide to be their friend! You could've gotten yourself hurt, and threatened the lives of every other policeman in here!"

The woman in the chair, whose head was dropped to her chest, brought a hand up to her face to cover her tear drenched eyes. She was so disappointed and ashamed at herself. Ashamed that she could let herself slip so easily, disappointed in… something she couldn't place her finger on.

Her chest heaved a shaky sigh, and Kaede stopped pacing and softened her angered look at the young woman silently sobbing in the chair. She made her way slowly towards the younger girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright, I'm sure. But we'll have to talk to the bureau about this… and then let them decide what they want to do. Besides," The old woman smiled warmly at her broken colleague, "you're the best officer anyone knows; they won't be too hard on you. And don't think I won't try to get you out of it as well."

Kagome looked up gratefully at her captain and nodded timidly, "Thank you Kaede."

"Now," Kaede wiped off her motherly gaze and flicked on her working mode. "The boy's family is probably dead worried about him. Could you tell me all the people in his family?"

Kagome nodded at her senior and wiped the last tear streaks from her cheeks, "He has a father and a brother, I've…met them before," She looked away from her senior, ignoring the surprised look on the elder woman's face. "He doesn't have a mother, I think she's deceased."

Kaede nodded and went towards her desk, picking up the phone. "We should contact them; they must be wondering where he went. So, where do they reside?"

* * *

"Who do you work for?"

Silence.

"Why take the fall all by yourself, hm?"

No response.

"You think we won't find out!"

The officers glared warningly at the boy in the chair, but he did nothing but merely turn his head to one side. His face was expressionless, and he didn't even make any effort in getting out of the rope, tying his hands behind his chair.

"Why are you doing this?"

He looked at the ground. Silence.

The three men at the table in front of him leaned back and sighed. This was hopeless. No matter what they did, say, bribe, or threatened, he wouldn't say a word.

Before the questioning could continue, the door opened as an officer stepped in and looking around hesitantly. "Oh, the captain's not here?"

One of them at the table shook his head and pointed his pen towards the wall behind him. "No, she's in the next room with Kago…" Everybody snapped their heads towards him, and the officer had to stutter the rest of his answer out. "…n-number 828."

The four constables took a brief glance at the boy at the chair. To their surprise, his eyes were widened and his brows were knotted in the middle. Kago..? _Kagome_?

Flashes of Kagome's gentle face on the boat pierced his mind, and in the next second, Inuyasha found himself ripping out of the chair and bolting past the officer at the door. Shouts and yells of 'Stop, don't do it!' were called after him, but everything was a big blur to him, and all he concentrated on was to get to Kagome. Kagome…

How could she do this to him? She was an officer? She can't be. All this time, he had been sticking with the last person he should be anywhere close to. A police officer. Was it all a trap? Did she know all about him already? She wouldn't do that to him. Would she?

Pure rage seeped through his mind, and he found his legs lose its balance and fall to the ground. Hands grabbed him from behind, and a strong force started to pull him back. He jerked his head up, just in time to see Kagome coming out of the room, trailing an old lady in a cops' uniform. To his horror, she was wearing one too.

He struggled and tried to get out of the tons of hands clinging onto his collar, but his attention was really on the woman standing so still in front of him. Her arms were at her sides and her eyes were clouded over, she was staring at him as if she had never seen him in her life. It hurt him, but he couldn't let it show.

He looked back at her, and a silent plea suddenly enveloped his face. "No… No!"

Kagome flinched at the sound of his voice, but didn't budge. She watched as his face began to contort with desperation and inner pain. "No! No!"

"Get back inside! Take him!" Kaede barked at the unmoving officers. Immediately, they tugged at him fiercely, plucking his planted knees off the cement ground.

"No! NO!" He continued to yell, as the officers shouted at him. They began to drag him away, and his voice, slowly faded away. He was gone, but Kagome still didn't move.

She understood him. She understood what he was trying to tell her. He was begging her to not to arrest his family. It was the saddest, most desperate plea Kagome had ever heard. She couldn't imagine it coming from Inuyasha. But he was the one who had said it, and she wished she hadn't heard him… but she had to do it anyway. She also knew that she would soon be throwing the loved ones of who she cared for, behind bars.

She froze. Her hand slowly went over her mouth, as if she had said it out loud. The one she cared for? Did she really care about Inuyasha?

"Kagome, lets go." Kaede's voice reached her, and she blinked and looked at her senior, who was standing at the entrance of the door.

She nodded, and followed her without question. She knew what she would have to do next, would destroy everything she and Inuyasha ever had.

* * *

The four police cars screeched in front of the black barred fence and out came a bunch of police officers. They looked at the large brick house behind the huge garden and security and nodded. This was the place.

Madam Kaede pulled out a speaker from the backseat and raised it to her mouth. She looked around the officers and they nodded at her. She looked back at the lighted house and spoke, "You inside, come out. You've been surrounded by the police."

Everybody watched carefully for any movement inside the house, as Kaede lifted the speaker closer to mouth and tried again, "You inside, come out. You've been surrounded by the police."

Suddenly, all the lights inside flickered off and that only indicated that they were there.

The cops moved quickly towards the fence, kicking it open and scurrying inside. But there was one special officer that took extra long to get out of the car, and extra draggy feet towards the fence. She hoped nobody would notice that she was stalling, but out of all the officers her; the high commander had to catch her.

"Kagome," Madam Kaede barked fiercely at the young woman with her gun positioned sloppily in her hands. "Straighten up right this instant."

"Yes ma'am," the said woman replied with her back immediately as stiff as a board. But when Madam Kaede moved in after the others, her back immediately sagged and her composure fell. A headache was brewing and Kagome wished she could go home and just sleep.

She didn't want to be here, it was dark and cold. She sighed. No. That wasn't it. She didn't want to be here because she didn't want to arrest the family. Inuyasha's family.

His cries suddenly appeared in her mind, and the moment was still fresh. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block the image out of her head, but Inuyasha's once confident, cocky self had disappeared, and the vulnerable side of him showed, on his knees and his eyes depending every inch of his life on her.

She turned her head and the grip on her gun tightened. She hated herself. She hated herself for meeting Inuyasha, for developing these special feelings for him, for being the one to find out who he was; someone she was never meant to become friends with. Yes, she admitted it. Something about Inuyasha made her happy, but she knew that was it. It had to be anyway.

"Kagome?" a muffled voice called, with static crumpling in the background.

Kagome jumped at the sound of her name, and for a second, she thought it was Inuyasha. But when she found the source of the sound, it was coming from her belt. She pulled out the walkie talkie from her side and shakily raised it to her mouth. "Y-yes?"

"Where are you?"

Suddenly, panic overwhelmed her, and she was unable to speak. She couldn't tell her chief that she didn't want to arrest Inuyasha's family because it would destroy their friendship, no! It was duty before anything else. Instead, she settled for a guilty lie.

"I – um, heard something, so I decided to stay here if they made their getaway."

A pause was sounded on the other end, and Kagome was sure Kaede suspected. She closed her eyes and prepared for a scolding, but to her surprise, Kaede didn't say anything like that.

"Good idea… you stay outside and keep low so they won't know you're out there. Be safe, Kagome."

Kagome nodded into the speaker, and sighed in relief. Kaede must know, but she was just being nice about it. But to follow her chief's tips, Kagome crouched down onto her knees and made her way towards the backyard of the fence. When she reached there and checked for a clear coast, she plopped herself against a tree. She laid her head back and sighed.

So many things were running through her mind, and she wished she could solve them all right now. She rubbed her weary eyes and shook her throbbing head. Maybe if I took a little nap…

CLUNK!

Reflexively, the young officer jumped to the balls of her feet. She tore her gun out of its pouch and wrapped her fingers around it. Slowly standing up, she peered behind the tree and she couldn't believe what she saw.

Two people were climbing over the fence, one holding a large bag. Kagome knew those two were his father and brother. She hated to do this, but she knew she had to.

"Freeze! Move an inch and I'll shoot!" she shouted as she jumped from her hiding spot and aimed her gun towards the two.

The figures immediately froze in their positions and slowly turned with their hands raised. Kagome watched as the one with the bag slowly dropped it to the ground.

Slowly and cautiously, Kagome moved towards the two shadows, ready to defend herself if they attacked.

She approached them carefully, with her gun aimed right in the middle. She squinted to see who they were, though deep inside she knew exactly who they were. She stepped into the moonlight, and dread overwhelmed her.

In front of her, were Inuyasha's brother and father all right, but the expression on his father's face was just too overbearing. He looked at her with such shock and disappointment that Kagome wished she never approached them in the first place. His brother displayed no emotion, but he still had a flicker of hurt in his eyes. Yes, she had met them and thought they were good people, and they even seemed quite fond of her or Inuyasha's father at least… and now she had to go and ruin everything. She hated herself.

Inuyasha's father, a handsome man with thick silver hair, looked at Kagome with uncertainty in his golden eyes, eyes like Inuyasha's. "K-Kagome?"

Kagome wanted to look away, but stood her ground. She grinded her teeth together and didn't respond.

Inuyasha's father continued to look at her, and soon, anger was pouring into her eyes. "H-how could you?"

"I guess she forgot to tell us she was a police officer." Inuyasha's brother, Sesshomaru, an also handsome man with delicate features and long flowing silver hair, said and was also looking at her as well with narrowed amber eyes. But with him, she felt a lot more coldness and icy hatred directed towards her, and she wished he'd stop sending her these vibes. She felt like she was betraying her own family, but she couldn't do anything about it.

"Y-you have the right to remain silent." The young officer grounded out, though it sounded less strong than before. She hoped they hadn't heard the stutter in her tone, but they did.

Sesshomaru replied her in a snotty tone, but didn't lower his arms. "I have the right but I don't want to use it. What makes you think we're going to listen to you after what you did to us?"

"We thought we were…friends…" Inuyasha's father spoke softly. The anger was gone from his eyes, and Kagome could see sadness had replaced it.

Guilt washed over her, and Kagome wanted to drop her gun and apologize a million times at their feet. But the reality was there, and she knew what they were doing was wrong and illegal. They were just trying to make her feel bad…right?

Suddenly, something wrapped around her throat and pushed her to the ground, causing the grip on her gun to loosen and let the weapon fall. The young officer choked out in surprise, and her eyes squeezed shut, feeling shock and pain. Her body was smacked against the ground hard, and a something hard grounded against her stomach. Kagome suddenly found it hard to breathe, and she tried everything to kick off the person on top of her. She opened her eyes to see who it was, and she was devastated to see that it was Sesshomaru.

He looked almost evil, as his golden orbs flashed dangerously with a cunning smile pasted his soft face. He grinned slightly at Kagome under him and tightened his steel-like grasp around her neck.

The young officer choked for air as she slapped her hands against Inuyasha's brother's, but the grip did not loosen. Kagome had no choice but to kick the man off her with all her strength, and she flinched as he grunted and punched her hard in the stomach. But his hand was off her throat and that was all Kagome needed. Flipping backwards, Kagome did a high kick right at the man's chin, sending him flipping upside down and falling onto his stomach. He began to get up and Kagome crouched into fighting stance before…

"You…!" Kagome twirled around just in time to see Inuyasha's father running towards her, and her eyes widened when she saw what was in his hands.

Her gun.

She ducked as he shot at her, and she swung her foot quickly to trip him. He fell, but he pulled the trigger again, and this time, he shot her.

Kagome cried out in pain as blood spurted out of her left shoulder, and she fell onto her back at the force. She bit her lip from screaming, and squeezed her eyes shut at the pain searing through her arm and chest. She struggled to get up, but the pain was too much.

"Think you can get us, can you?"

Kagome jerked her head upwards, and found to her horror, both Inuyasha's father and Sesshomaru were looming over her, with a gun in the father's hands.

Their eyes flashed maliciously, and they advanced onto her. The young woman tried to push herself up and crawl away, but her shoulder gave in on her and she fell back onto her back.

They laughed at her, and Inuyasha's father closed one eye and aimed the pointer right at the middle of Kagome's forehead.

"Die."

* * *

**Authors Note**: Sorry, sorry, I-am-SO-sorry! I know, it's been quite a while since I've updated, but I've been so busy lately! I'm so sorry… but here it is and I hope you're not too disappointed. Don't forget to review…please?


	5. Chapter 5: Trial

**Bluie Twilight Star **– Nope, time didn't lapse, but I meant to that that in between, Kagome and Inuyasha have been seeing each other, so Kagome met his family along the way. I just didn't write it, now I wished I did -.- Hopefully that answered your question… sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, thanks for reviewing!

**Fantastical Queen Ebony Black **– Ah, my very loyal reader, Fantastical Queen Ebony Black : ) I've been re-reading my previous reviews and I noticed you wanted me to check out some of your fanfics. When I find the time after all these stupid tests, I will definitely read some; I can't wait! Thanks for reviewing!

* * *

_At that very moment, I knew that this was where the line is drawn. The way Inuyasha's father and brother were looking at me; I knew they would not listen to any of my pleases if I tried to beg my way out of it. It was my fault having ended up like this, I had betrayed them and they had every right to kill me. I even welcome them to kill me, maybe hopefully all this guilt rolling inside my gut would finally dissipate. _

_But just when I thought my life would be taken away from me…_

* * *

A gunshot rang clear, piercing through the silent night, breaking the peacefulness that once held still. Nighttime birds scattered in the distance, as the sound of shouting and screaming resounded in the area from the rows of houses nearby.

Fresh blood smothered the pale skin of the girl lying flat on the concrete ground, and her eyes were wide with fear. Her body was motionless, and her gaze directed upon the lone figure standing unmoving in front of her.

Then she moved. Groping for a wound, sudden pain, injuries… anything. But none was found, and confusion struck her mind. She touched the blood and raised it to her face, and realized this blood wasn't hers.

But then that means…

Suddenly, a heavy force crashed onto her without warning, sending the air in her lungs to escape from a wheeze through her mouth. She squeaked, and tried to push off the heavy object off of her. She rolled on one side, and turned to see what had fallen on top of her.

Inuyasha's father's face, stared hauntingly at her on one side, as footsteps running away fast was faintly heard in the background. Kagome crawled a few steps back, and stared back at him with rapid breaths.

"Kagome! Kagome!"

Kagome jumped at the sound of her name, and jerked her eye-widened face to look behind her. A group of her colleagues were rushing towards her, and Kagome could see one of them was holding a gun in front of them. They ran to her side, and questions of her safety were asked.

Madam Kaede was among the group, and she knelt to Kagome's side and brushed stray strands of hair out of her sweaty face. "Kagome my child, are you alright?" She caught the blood oozing from her shoulder blade, and immediately signaled for somebody to help.

Shakily, she nodded, still dazed from all the action. Slowly, she rose to her feet with the help of her friends, and looked at the body of Inuyasha's father.

Kaede rubbed her back and nodded at the corpse. "We heard a gunfire being shot and rushed to the sound. We saw the two of them pointing a gun at you so I had no choice but to fire at the one holding. Unfortunately," Kaede nodded into the dark clearing. "The other one escaped."

The young girl nodded faintly with her eyes still focusing on the motionless body, unknowingly letting her officer friends bandage up her bleeding shoulder. "Is he dead?" she whispered out, and Kaede turned her around and began walking her towards one of the police cars.

"We believe so, but that isn't important. What is is that you're okay," The old lady stopped and looked at her best pupil with concerned eyes. "You were slow back there Kagome… that's very unlike you. Is this case too much for you? Perhaps you should…"

"No, I'm fine." Kagome cut in with a blank look in her eyes. She rubbed her face and looked at her senior gratefully. "I think I'd like to go home."

After assuring all her friends she was alright and didn't need to go to the hospital, one of the officers drove her home. She walked up the stairs to her apartment and dragged herself inside, throwing her body onto her bed.

Immediately, tears sprung into her eyes and she quickly reached for the phone, pressing speed dial. Three rings were all it took when a male voice answered eagerly into the phone.

"Hello?"

The sound of his voice sent a surge through her body, and everything she was holding inside finally came bursting out. A sob wrecked through her body, and soon she was bawling over the receiver.

He recognized her immediately, and concern was evident in his tone. "Kagome, is that you? Are you okay? What happened?"

Kagome's voice cracked, and she wrapped the chord around her hand tightly. "K-Kouga, promise you won't leave me."

There was brief hesitation on the other line, as if he was confused. But when he answered, his voice was full of confidence. "I'll never leave you."

His words soothed her slightly, and her crying began to slow down to whimpers. "Promise me."

"I promise you Kagome. You know what? Let's get married okay? Let's get married." Eagerness was bouncing off his tone, and she could almost see him jumping up and down. But it seemed so sudden. Out of the midst of the moment, he was asking for her hand in marriage.

For some reason, it sounded like the best thing in the world right now for her. A small smile cracked upon her lips and she nodded into the receiver. "Let's."

* * *

The young woman had grinned at the package in her arms, and made small clucking noises towards it. She had rocked back and forth slowly, tickling the little thing. A satisfied 'goo' replied her, letting her know, he liked it.

It's been nine months since the incident, and Kagome had born a child. Kouga held off his recent book just to take care of her, and wouldn't let her do anything in the house. Everything was perfect, and Kagome wished it would stay that way. But Madam Kaede had called her up, and asked her to testify for Inuyasha, whose case was coming up soon after months of deciding what to do. So, it went to court.

Now here she was, staring straight into the wall with a confident composure, though deep inside, all she wanted was to crumple up and cry. She saw how they treated Inuyasha, how they dragged him inside the courthouse with bruises and cuts all over him. She knew Inuyasha wouldn't give in so easily, and this was his punishment.

"I walked around several times without seeing anyone. Then I saw a man; pull a bag out of another bag. I approached…"

A voice interrupted her, and pointed at the silver haired man currently handcuffed in his seat, slouching next to his lawyer. "Is that the man?"

The young officer slowly turned her eyes towards him, and dread filled her stomach. Inuyasha looked right back at her, and it pained her to see him look so empty.

She turned her head back forward, and forced out an affirmative.

"Were any words exchanged between the two of you?" the questioning continued.

Kagome nodded, and looked down at the polished wooden floors. Wooden floors of the courtroom.

Why was she here? She could been sitting around with Kouga, planning their honeymoon. Yes, it was true. Kouga had kept up to his promise and had proposed to her the next day when he came to Tokyo. They had their wedding within a month, even though Kouga's mother complained it was too sudden. But the wedding went well, and Kagome thought that in that time of her life, she could relax. But then Madam Kaede called her, asking her to testify for Inuyasha, whose case came up three days after her wedding.

"Yes." She answered firmly. "I asked him, 'Do you know if it will rain today?', he answered, 'No, but tomorrow it will.' Then we exchanged our bags after said words."

"Was there anything else besides that?"

Kagome looked at the ground again and nodded, "Yes. He asked me why I was doing this."

"What did he mean by this?"

Without helping it, Kagome adverted her gaze directly at the silver haired man. Disappointment swam through her veins she realized he wasn't going to look at her. He was probably still mad at her.

She closed her eyes to wipe away the guilt gnawing at her stomach and nodded. "By this he meant drug smuggling."

"Objection your honor, witness has no evidence of such." Inuyasha's lawyer immediately stated as he pointed accusingly at Kagome.

"Objection overruled."

"Nothing more your honor." The man sat down, and next, was Inuyasha's lawyer turn to question her.

"When and how did you meet the suspect?"

Kagome winced when they made 'suspect' sound like a murder case. She hated it, and always wished that it was Inuyasha's brother sitting in his spot, instead of really Inuyasha.

"Last year of April 14th. We were both splashed by water by the little kids and that's how we encountered." Kagome looked up. She could've sworn she heard a grunt somewhere.

"On which date did you Kouga, your currently newlywed husband?"

"July 8th of last year."

"Inuyasha was already detained, wasn't he?"

Kagome looked up at the stubby man with short grey hair, who resembled a lot like a flea to her. She glared at him, trusting her instincts that were telling her this was going to get ugly. How she wished he was a flea so she could squish him under her finger.

"Yes." She answered, as she stood up straighter, hoping to seem more overpowering than the short man barely reaching her shoulder.

"What is the relationship between you and Inuyasha?"

Before Kagome answered, she hesitated, but decided with her answer. "Friends." She didn't see the sudden expression Inuyasha had expressed right at her.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Kagome swallowed and looked at Inuyasha again, as if for assurance before answering, "You can say that."

Suddenly, the horrid flea-man grinned and raised his hands in an 'I-don't-know' manner. "So we can all say, you've slept together?"

The crowd rumbled with laughter, and Kagome felt anger swimming in her veins. She could have sworn she heard someone spray their diet coke. How dare he…

Without wavering, she answered affirmative, ignoring the surprised gasp from Madam Kaede sitting in the front row.

"Did he know you were engaged?"

"I-I told him I had a fiancé." Kagome answered with uncertainty. She did tell him… but told him too late.

"How did he respond?"

She froze, and furrowed her brows. Did he disagree with it? No, he didn't. Or did he? "He didn't say."

"What did he say?"

She closed her eyes, recalling the day Inuyasha had stormed inside her house, yelling at her. She had blurted out she had a fiancé… and then he said something… with those expressionless golden eyes… the painfully blank face… and said…

"You can't do it." She mechanically repeated what he had said those months ago.

"So he disagreed?"

Kagome didn't answer.

"So he became a problem to be resolved, didn't he?"

Kagome looked at him cautiously, unsure of what he was trying to say. "I don't understand."

"Alright then," The flea-man looked at her with darkness in his eyes, and Kagome knew, he was going to pounce on her. "What was your reaction when you realized that he was the courier on the boat?"

A feeling rushed over her, the feeling she had felt when she had saw his beautiful yet such wrong face on the ferry that day. The day she realized, they couldn't be friends anymore. She looked down to her stand with a timid nod. "Very surprised…" And disappointed. She added silently, as an unfamiliar lump appeared in her throat unexpectedly.

"And happy?"

The added feeling caught her off guard, and she jerked her head up to glare at the man. "Excuse me?"

"You were happy… happy that you finally got a chance to get him arrested, perhaps put to jail, even executed,"

Kagome's eyes widened at the fake predicament, and she opened her mouth to object… but he beat her to it. With his dangerously narrow eyes flashing, he leaned over the desk, and breathed the next word out, making her feel it… and believe it. "You were happy, that he was finally out of the way, and that you could continue your life with your husband, filled with selfish desires and a barrelful of lies."

"NO!" she burst out, surprising some of her fellow workers.

But the man was merciless, and continued his painful taunting. "Finally, now that he's gone… you can continue to hide your hideous secret away from your husband, hoping one day it was distinguish and you can pretend like nothing happened, pretend that the bond you and my client had so happily created was gone, thus breaking his heart and pulling him out from the world of sanity."

"NO! It wasn't like that!" Kagome cried, tears on the verge of breaking. The judge looked at her in disapproval, ready to hit the gavel. "I would've never taken the situation in advantage! Never! Inuyasha was my friend, and I cared for him! I had no idea he was the courier, I didn't! I lov…" Busted. She cut off in a gasp, as her hands flung to her mouth in desperation to stop the words from flowing out.

The court gasped, and the truth was out. Kagome had loved Inuyasha. And she didn't even know about it… till today.

Kagome's eyes were widened, and she could feel her whole reputation and pride crashing down onto her. No… no… she had loved Inuyasha? What would Kouga do when he finds out that she never loved him? No! She did love him… she did! But she had fallen out of love from him and instead, gave her heart away to Inuyasha without even knowing it. She didn't dare look at the person she had almost claimed her love to, but she could feel his surprised eyes boring holes into her body. Everything was so clear now, and all the blurriness and confusion was finally wiped away.

Instead of feeling happy, Kagome's heart felt a hundred pounds heavier. She knew she had just made one of the many biggest mistakes of her life… after meeting Inuyasha.

* * *

"Kagome?"

An old woman wobbled her way towards the younger woman stooping at the hose, and bent down to level their height. "Are you alright?"

The woman called Kagome turned her head towards her senior and nodded slowly with a sad smile. Over the past few months, she had aged. Her once perfectly porcelain beauty was stained with lines and dark round circles due to the long sleepless nights she had to endure. She had been suffering quietly for a long time, and Kaede knew why. Kouga had heard about the case, and was truly angry at her.

In a motherly fashion, Kaede placed her wrinkled hand over Kagome's slender shoulder. Kaede also noted, sadly, Kagome had lost a tremendous amount of weight. She looked nothing but skin and bones, pale and frail. It pained her to see her best pupil like this… she saw her as her own granddaughter, and now she was crying every night ever since Inuyasha had been released.

Yes, Inuyasha was free, because it was said that it was the brother that had told him to do the smuggling. Inuyasha claimed to have not known that the bag was contained with drugs, but jade from Burma. So instead, Inuyasha had gotten a five year sentence, while his brother was wanted for a death sentence.

"Madam Kaede!" A voice shouted, cutting into the elder woman's deep thoughts. She snapped out of her trance and stood up to face her colleague, nodding for him to deliver his message.

"There's somebody on the phone… for Kagome." The seemingly breathless officer reported, as he leaned against the brick wall for support.

Kagome immediately shot up in her seat, and stood next to the worried Kaede. "Who did he claim to be?"

"Inuyasha."

* * *

**A****uthor's Note**: Guys, I am SO sorry for not updating. I've been a bad girl and fallen into writer's block and didn't even try to knock it down. Please forgive me But here it is, and I hope you're not too disappointed-" But I am especially displeased with the part when Kagome was being questioned at the court… definitely not enough detail. I leave it to my editor, and hopefully she can juice things up. Again, I am so sorry.


	6. Chapter 6: Five Years Later

NOTE: Not edited, not proofread.

**Kura-Chan15** – Hey! Sorry If I didn't make it clear, but here's how it is. 9 months later after the incident, Kagome bore a child and married Kouga a month later. Three days later after her wedding and spending time with her almost a year old baby, Kaede called her up to testify for the trial. And yes, Kagome did sleep with Inuyasha, that's why Kouga's so mad at her. I read it over everything and I didn't get it myself! Sorry if I made it unclear, I'll fix it when I have the time. Thanks for pointing it out to me!

**InuSpirit** – Yeah, I guess I did rush some parts; I was excited to finish it and post it after so long. Sorry hehe! But it would be great if you could point out the part I rushed on so I could fix it real fast! Thanks for pointing that out!

* * *

Her ears were ringing, her heart was pounding and her feet were aching from the inconsistent pounding it made with each step she took closer into the office. Her surroundings were a big blur, and whoever she had knocked aside in order to get through did not matter in her mind. She had only one objective.

Get to the phone.

The sound of a continuous ringing reached her ears, and her speed quickened, her heart rate too. Inuyasha, Inuyasha… his name kept ringing in her ears. That was what the officer had informed her… Inuyasha was calling for her.

Was it possible? Five years later and he's calling. How was he? Is he a different person? Will he decide on a new life? A job? A family? Questions were already resurfacing in her head as she approached the chiming object, and a sudden self-cautiousness enveloped her as she neared it. Is he still mad at her? Should she pretend she didn't recognize him?

Slowly, she shakily reached for the ringing receiver and lifted it off its hook. She brought it up to her ear and swallowed, "H-Hello?"

She closed her eyes, waiting for his husky, confident voice to fill her ears. But the only thing that she could hear was a faint static sounding in the background.

She curled her fists, tears threatening to spill. Five whole years and he was finally calling. And now he won't even say anything to her. Did he despise her that much?

She knew Inuyasha. Knew his inferior exterior and knew his arrogant personality. She knew how to get him to speak, and she will do it with challenge hanging on her tone. "What… have no courage to speak to me?"

"You can't do it."

Kagome's eyes flew open as a familiar voice came from the other line. Inuyasha? Is it really you?

"Inuyasha?"

"You will not forget me," his voice continued, monotone and dead. "My father, my brother and me. You will not forget them. You will not forget me."

Click.

_You will not forget me… you will not forget me… _his message kept ringing in her ears as the line went dead on her. Her mind was in shock and her body was numb, but somehow she had managed to put the receiver back onto its hook. Oh Inuyasha… tears fell from her eyes and dribbled pathetically down her cheek as she closed her eyes and tried to imagine the happy times she and Inuyasha shared. But those moments seemed to far away and now she didn't know if she even knew him anymore.

Kagome's head spun, and her emotions were mixed. What did he mean…?

Kagome stared at the phone, sitting innocently on the table. She prayed with all her might that Inuyasha would call back, and tell her it was all a misunderstanding.

But after staring at it for another half an hour, Kagome knew he wasn't going to call back.

* * *

Slowly, an exhausted Kagome dragged her feet down the path, her heart heavy, her body drained physically and emotionally. Nowadays, everything she did was so hard for her and she knew she was suffering from depression. It was hard on Kouga too, now that the newspapers had sailed and he knew that she had slept with another man, a criminal to be exact. She hadn't seen him in days, since she had been staying at the academy, too afraid to face him. But her heart ached for love, and she hoped seeing her baby and Kouga would ease the pain eating her heart. 

As she climbed those slow and agonizing steps up to the porch, her baby's familiar crying was heard inside. Suddenly awake, Kagome burst through the door in panic, wondering what was wrong. To her surprise, there sat Kouga with the baby three feet away from him, doing nothing to stop the baby's frantic cries.

"Kouga, what're you doing?" Kagome quickly rushed towards her wailing infant and scooped the poor thing into her arms, cradling it lovingly. "The baby is crying and it hasn't been changed. Why didn't you change it?"

"Why should I change it?"

Kagome looked up, surprise evidently etched on her face. Kouga sat there, bent over, bangs covering his face, voice low and tired. "Excuse me…?"

He suddenly bolted up, startling Kagome. His face read anger and betrayal, and a familiar pain flickering through his azure orbs which reminded her of Inuyasha so very much. But she couldn't turn away when he said his next words, "I said, why should I change it!"

"Why! You're his father! You should take care…"

"I'm not the father of that goddamn baby! Why the hell should I change it? Why the hell should I care for it!"

Kagome opened her mouth to counter back before what he said finally registered in his mind. What did he say? "What did you… say?"

Kouga smashed his fist against the table and dropped helplessly into the chair as the baby burst out in tears, upset that he had been awakened. Kagome watched in dread as her husband buried his face into big hands and shook his head in them. "I said… " his voice had dropped the rage bouncing off his tone, and was now replaced by dark sadness. "I'm not the father of the baby. He's not mine. He's his."

Kagome dropped her to knees, no longer able to hear the baby's cries. Her eyes were wide as she emotionlessly dropped her head in shock. He's not mine… he's his.

He's his.

His.

Inuyasha…

"Kouga…"

Kouga didn't answer her, and the silence invited her to continue. She swallowed, and tears slowly rolled down her pale cheek as she struggled for her next words, "I-I never knew about the baby. I never knew. I always thought… always thought he was yours. I'm… I'm so sorry…"

"I don't need to hear this crap anymore Kagome!" he suddenly interrupted as he shot up from his seat. It was then Kagome got a good look at him. His usual silky jet-black hair, tangled and unkempt, his flawless tanned complexion now stained with an unhealthy color of paleness from not going outside for days, his normally confident, bright blue eyes, now dead and corrupted with evident sadness. "I knew something was wrong from the beginning! So I took a DNA test, and do you know what they told me? I was not the father of this child, he was not my kid, HE IS NOT MINE!"

He let out a cry in agony as he pointed in disgust in the crying child wrapped tightly in Kagome's arms, "I can't believe you did this to me! What did I do wrong! What did I do to make you do this to me?" he yelled, his own unshed tears shining in his frustrated eyes and the only thing she could do was helplessly stare at the floor. "I forgave you for sleeping with another man, but now, the baby's not mine! How? Why!"

Unexpectedly, Kouga flew from his seat and down to his knees, at Kagome's level. He roughly grabbed onto her arms and shook her violently, as the baby cried harder and Kagome's head dropped lower. "Tell me what I did wrong! Did I neglect you! How could you do this to me!" He dropped his arms and Kagome looked up at him. A gasp escaped her mouth as she watched Kouga slap himself. "I was blind! I was stupid! I was blind and stupid not to see that you didn't love me anymore! The way you would hesitate whenever I bring up the topic, kids, love, marriage. I was stupid! I'm a jerk!"

Mindlessly, Kouga continued to slap himself, harder and harder, faster and faster with each time his own hand made a blow to his face. Finally, Kagome couldn't watch any longer, and she dropped the baby in her lap and grabbed his hands. "Stop, Kouga! Stop hurting yourself! You're not stupid, you're not blind, you're not a jerk!" she cried, tears streaming down her face endlessly.

"Don't touch me you filthy whore!" he screamed as he flung her arms away and got up, walking away from her.

"Kouga, no!" she tried to reach for him, but he only threw her back, disgusted and betrayed.

Kagome was about to get up, run and hug him before he suddenly stood still. She watched as his head dropped, his shoulders sag. After a long, painful silence, he finally spoke, his voice quiet and emotionless. "I came to give you back your baby. After that, I will leave. The moment I step out this door… we don't know each other." He reached beside him to the coffee table and grabbed some papers, throwing at her carelessly. She watched as the scattered papers slowly floated to the ground and she looked at them.

LAWYERS MARC AND BEN'S CO.

"Kouga… why do you need lawy…"

"I've already filed for a divorce. The only thing we need is your signature. After that, we can move on with her lives and start new ones." He turned to her; the anger completely gone from his face as he wearily smiled a hollow smile at her. It broke her heart. "It was nice getting to know you, Kagome."

Kagome stared at him for a couple of moments, before a small smile appeared on her face too. Kouga was forgiving her and he was also letting go. It hurt her to see him like this and leave on her and the baby, but it was for the best. Slowly, she got up with the baby in her arms and made her way up to Kouga who had no intention of moving away. She smiled genuinely as she nodded sincerely at him. "I'm sorry for ever hurting you Kouga. I never meant it. I hope one day, we can become friends again."

He laid his hand on her slender shoulder and smiled back at her, "We already are, Kagome."

Kagome signed the papers, and she started to turn and leave. Before she reached for the door, she looked back at Kouga, who was standing in the middle of the room with a longing expression on his face. She smiled at him again and nodded, "Thank you, Kouga."

He smiled back at her and waved, "Anytime, Kags, anytime."

Slowly, Kagome opened the door with her baby who had fallen asleep in her arms and walked out of the cabin, down the stairs and across the field. Kouga had forgiven her and even gave her a chance to start a new life. She was grateful to him, and she couldn't help but let a small smile grace her features as she made her way down the path. I hope you can find true happiness in a woman that truly loves you Kouga… you deserve it.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a figure appeared next to Kagome and something hard knocked her down onto the ground. She cried out in pain as she fell with full impact onto the hard cold dirt, also jolting her baby awake in the process. Before she could jump up, something cold and steely was jabbed against her temple.

"Don't move."

Kagome froze. His voice. It was so husky. So familiar. It couldn't be…

Inuyasha.

He was the same as the last time she saw him, long silvery hair, and intense amber eyes. But he looked very different at the same time. His eyes were still that beautiful color of amber, but darkness had unmistakably tinted that once pure gold and his features were hard and rugged, as if he had grown through hell and back. His face was dirty, caked his mud and dirt, his dull bland gray clothing ripped and worn out. Next to him was the figure that had attacked her, Sesshomaru, also rough looking and worn.

Kagome gasped at the sight of them both, more shocked of Inuyasha's appearance but didn't show it. It was wise to obliged to his orders with that dangerous gun pointed at her head so she silently stayed still.

"Get up, slowly."

Obeying his commands, Kagome slowly started to get into a crouch. But before Inuyasha could grab onto her, she quickly brought her knee into his stomach and rammed into it hard. A grunt sounded from him and Kagome wasted no time. Within the blink of an eye, Kagome had flown away from the gasping Inuyasha that had crumpled onto the ground and was running straight towards her cabin.

"Kouga! Kouga! Open up! Kouga!" she continuously shouted as she ran as fast as she could without dropping her baby.

She ran up the wooden stairs and burst into the open house with Kouga staring surprisingly at her. "What's going…"

"No time to explain! Take the baby! Hurry!" Kagome quickly ordered as she shoved the wailing infant into his arms and ran towards the couch.

"What's gotten into you!" he shouted, but did what she told him to do and put the baby onto the bed.

"Help me with this, quick!" she grunted as she dragged the heavy sofa towards the door. Kouga quickly followed and together they lifted the table off of the floor and slammed it flat against the door.

He looked at her in panic, "What's going on, Kagome?"

Before she could answer him, something rammed against the wooden door. Both Kouga and Kagome quickly jerked their heads towards the source of noise, and Kouga turned back to Kagome questioningly. She looked at him apologetically and was about to explain when the sound of gunshot pierced into the atmosphere.

Bullets shot through the wooden door, pushing both occupants onto the ground. Kagome cried out in surprise as she hit the ground, but was not injured. She quickly turned to see if Kouga was alright, and scene before her was her worst nightmare.

There laid Kouga, motionless with blood trickling down his chest and sides.

"KOUGA!"

Kagome shrieked as she scrambled up and quickly rushed to Kouga's battered body. She grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him, hoping he would wake from his semi-sleepy state as he wearily looked up at her. "Kouga! Are you alright! Speak to me! Speak to me!"

"Kagome…" his raspy voice reached her ears as he struggled to lift his hand up to her face drenched with her own tears. He tried hard to smile at her, but his smile wavered when his face suddenly contorted with pain. Kagome gasped and grabbed onto his trembling hand, "Kouga, wait! Kouga…"

Then Kagome watched, as her ex-beloved, fall dead into her arms. "Kouga…"

Before Kagome could do anything, two figures barged into the room, one aiming the gun right at her. Kagome looked up in surprise as Sesshomaru fired, missing her head by an inch. Without missing a beat, she grabbed her baby and made a run towards the window, dodging another bullet by another few inches.

Kagome grabbed onto the window sill and hesitated. The sound of a gun firing rang into the air and she realized that the bullet had hit the ceiling instead of her. She quickly turned back to see why Sesshomaru had missed by so much, and was shocked to see Inuyasha's hand holding onto Sesshomaru's. The elder brother had looked at the younger one for a second before turning back to Kagome and raising the gun at her head. Quickly, Kagome threw herself and the baby over the window sill, and plunged into the icy cold lake water.

She gasped as she swam to the surface at a distance from her cabin and quickly brought her baby up to her chest, cuddling it with warmth. She treaded through the waters, not wasting the time to look back and quickly looked at her baby.

"Oh no…"

To her horror, her baby's eyes were closed and his lips were a bluish purple in color. She quickly felt his pulse and was relieved to feel it was there, but at a very faint beat. "Baby, mommy's here… just hold on…"

Kagome scanned the surroundings and squinted to see a shore just a couple of meters away from her. She quickly swam to it and ran out, not waiting for Inuyasha and Sesshomaru to catch up to her.

When she reached ashore, she noticed a broken down shack in the distance and started making her way towards it. But when she stepped onto the soft sand, the skies suddenly started pouring rain on her. She gasped as she broke into a wild run and ran towards the rundown hut and broke in, not caring if anybody else lived in there.

When she got inside, there were only about two rooms and it was empty. She quickly grabbed onto the swinging door and slammed it shut, blocking out the thundering sounds of the upcoming storm.

She stared at the closed door and her muscles finally gave in. She dropped to the ground with unsteady breaths as her body started to shiver in coldness. She brought her hands up to her face and felt the clammy coldness radiating off her skin and knew she was getting hypothermia, along with her poor baby.

Without knowing it, she had gotten up and made her way towards the door. Cautiously opening it just a slight bit, she looked out into the dark rainy night as the rain beat down heavily against the soaking sand. Kagome turned away and slowly sank into the ground against the wall, her eyes heavy and her body soaking wet.

She slowly turned her head back outside and she tiredly rubbed her face with her hand. Her emotions were tangled and her mind couldn't think properly, but she couldn't help but let that one question linger in her head.

She sighed sadly, as her warm tears resurfaced and trickled down her cold cheek.

Inuyasha… I'm sorry.

* * *

**Author's Note: **HEY GUYS! What a surprise eh? This isn't my best work but it's late and to be honest, I'm lazy -.- Don't mind the rushed parts at the end, I honestly started slacking off during the middle of the chapter. I prolly won't update in another one million years, or unless I'm bored and can think of s'more ideas for the next chapter. But I'm not expecting any reviews or anything, just writing for fun hurr P so anyways, how you guys been? Still remember me? ;)


	7. Chapter 7: The Visitor

**Fantastical Queen Ebony Black** – hello there… yes, it did seem a little quick, near the end right? Yeah I guess I was sort of rushing… but was it that confusing? Can you tell me where the confusing parts is so I can fix asap? I'd greatly appreciate that. Btw, thank you so much for reviewing and being such a loyal reader that you are. You're one of the people who I write for :)

**Stary Angel1** – ahaha seeing that it was 'getting good', I decided to write another chapter! Thanks to you as well for staying with me and not leaving this slowly updating story. This one's for you ;)

**chibiNeko192** – LOL, you find Kouga dying COOL? Ahahha well, sure if you say so then ;D I'm so touched that you've still been waiting for my update… how long has it been? A year? Ehh, iunno but thank you so much for reviewing! You're one of those people who keep me writing

**catqueen13** – welcome… I haven't seen you around before so I'm guessing you're a new reader? I'm glad you think it's good cause personally I'm looking at it with a gruesome expression. Ahaha, hope you stick around… and thanks for reviewing!

* * *

"Inuyasha honey, I can't change you if you keep moving like that."

The little child scrunched up its adorable honey eyed; canine toothed face and made a gurgling noise which resembled something like 'NO!' – A toddler's favorite word. The young woman sighed as she impatiently rocked the tiny body back and forth, hoping to calm him down while resisting the urge to puke out her breakfast.

"Inuyasha baby, listen to mommy…" Kagome sighed wearily as she tried her best to tame the squirming child who would not allow his mother to change his mud caked clothes. But to no avail, he only squealed louder and slipped out Kagome's grasp, falling into the casket once more.

Kagome dropped her arms and tiredly rubbed her face as the child made a getaway by burying itself into the layers of blankets in the casket. It has been almost three years here but she still couldn't adjust to the environment of living in a shabby little broken down shack where her cabin was only so close. But she knew she couldn't go back for the risk of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha coming back to get her.

Inuyasha. The name still brought immense pain to her heart. What happened to him? All these years of hate and depression, she could only expect him to come after her with only a heavy heart that was set on revenge towards her. But it still hurt to watch the one she truly loved after all these years to attack her like that.

She looked at the bundles of blankets with an Inuyasha Jr. squirming underneath. Slowly, a smile appeared on her face. Her baby had grown beautifully and she could only say he resembled so much of his father. She even named her baby the same name as his birth father… she had missed Inuyasha that much. Her smile grew wider as she imagined his wild silver locks and honey eyes while he grinned foolishly at her, revealing two small canine teeth. His personality was wild, like his father, and whenever Kagome would break down and cry at night, he would curl up next to her and whisper soothing words to her… showing Kagome's side. She loved the little thing, but she still couldn't believe he was turning four years old this year… and still fatherless. Time has gone by so fast and Kagome could feel herself grow older and weaker day by day, physically and emotionally.

"Mommy?" a small voice quietly said from below.

Kagome blinked, snapping out of her trance and looking down. Her heart tickled when she saw Little Inuyasha peering at her with his big innocent eyes and a curious frown. She quickly wiped a stray tear that was slowly sliding down her cheek and gave a big smile for her kid. "Yes, honey?"

"What's wrong?"

Kagome laughed and reached over to pull him out of the casket. "Nothing honey. Only a little upset because somebody over here won't change out of his yucky clothes and is getting the blankies all dirty… HM!"

Little Inuyasha squealed as he flexibly slipped out of Kagome's grasp and darted around the house, laughing and drooling all the way. Kagome laughed at her child's silliness and tackled her little kid against the ground with him screaming in joy underneath her. "Mommy no! Yur squishin' Inu! Mommy, nooo!"

Kagome laughed and got off the tiny little body that immediately lunged into her stomach the moment she was sitting upright. That resulted into her falling back with her baby laughing and wriggling everywhere on her chest.

"Okay, okay common baby… you're getting mommy all dirty now. Let's go get you changed and a nice bath okay?" Kagome said after the giggles died down. She got up and looped her arms under Inuyasha's armpits and hulled him up.

"Mommy…"

"Yes hun?" Kagome replied distractedly as she walked over towards the basin and turned on the hot water tap.

"When's daddy gonna come home?"

Kagome froze midway turning the hot water tap, and little Inuyasha jumped when his bath started to get warm. Kagome blinked, realizing what she was doing and quickly turned it off, but she still couldn't stop trembling. She had dreaded from day one when little Inuyasha was born that he would someday ask this question. He had already asked it once, and she remembered breaking down and crying. Seeing that his mother could not provide an answer for him, little Inuyasha had concluded that his daddy was away on a business trip and when he returned, he would come back with tons and tons of toys bought just for him. Kagome smiled sadly at her son's naïve personality, but couldn't help but wish with him.

"Soon hun, soon… now take off those clothes! They're going to have to be washed tonight." Kagome playfully poked her son's ribcage, hoping to distract him from probing her any more questions. Fortunately, it had, and immediately he burst out in a fit of giggles.

Kagome laughed along with her child before knocking was heard from a distance. Both Kagome and little Inuyasha ceased their laughter and clamped their mouths shut, suddenly cautious and aware. Kagome quickly held onto her son's hands from splashing the water and Inuyasha obeyed. Kagome was now glad that she had repeatedly told little Inuyasha that if there was any sound whatsoever that did not come from neither of them, he had to stay still and be quiet. She concentrated hard to detect where the sound was coming from, and what it was.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Kagome's eyes widened.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The… door?

Impossible! In all three years of her life living here, there was not one visitor that has come here. Who could it be? Kagome froze as a name randomly appeared in her mind.

Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha…"

"What?"

Kagome jolted at her son's voice and she looked at him as he peered up at her curiously and expectant. She hadn't realized she had whispered the older Inuyasha's name out and now as she looked at the door and her son, her heart started thumping louder and louder, faster and faster.

Could it be? Kagome thought, her emotions mixed. She didn't know whether to be excited or afraid… he could either be back to kill her, or come back with open arms and ready for a family. She hoped it was the latter.

But it couldn't be him. Kagome thought as she quietly instructed her son to stay still in the basin while she got up to investigate. He could've never discovered where she lived, he should still be hiding since she should be expected to call the cops and live at the academy.

She slowly crept around the single wall that separated the two rooms and peered behind the wall at the door. No mistake, the fragile door was moving slightly as each knock resounded into the house. Kagome swallowed, sweat running down the side of her temple. Maybe it was a visitor, here to explore or here to ask her for directions? There were endless possibilities of who could be at the door, but Kagome was afraid. Were they cops? Were they people Inuyasha had sent to look for her?

No matter what the outcome was, Kagome had a feeling he/she could come in anyway if she didn't answer. So after swallowing her fear and putting her training in work, Kagome bent down onto the floor and slowly made her way towards the door.

When she reached the door, the knocking suddenly stopped and so did she. She stopped in her tracks, her hand halfway reaching towards the doorknob. She pricked her ears attentively, hoping to hear something, someone, and anything! Had the person knocking heard her presence? Why was he/she stopping?

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows when she heard nothing but silence. Then, to her surprise, the sounds of footsteps turning away from the door and walking away could be heard. The person was leaving. Wait! Don't go!

Without thinking of the consequences or thinking over who it could be, Kagome got right up and swung open the door. She stepped out noisily, indicating that she had opened the door.

There was a person in front of her with their back turned towards her, as if he was ready to leave. Yes, it was a 'he' from his broad frame and muscular build. He had frozen in his place as well when he heard the door open, and slowly, he began to turn.

Kagome gasped when she realized who her visitor was. No, it couldn't be. It CAN'T be…

"Kouga."

* * *

Kagome tilted the cracked china teapot downwards, watching as the hot brown liquid pour over into the battered china teacup. Steam rose from the dispensed tea, and Kagome looked up at the man stiffly seated across from her. She placed the teapot back onto the small table and handed him the steaming hot tea and he accepted it with gratitude.

"Kagome, it's been so long." He finally spoke after a while of silence, his voice husky and low, just like before.

Kagome could only wearily smile back at him as she continued to stare at him. He hasn't changed. Tousled jet-black hair neatly pulled into a high ponytail, straight confident composure and hypnotizing blue eyes. He was different from the last time she saw him though. Last time, he had been a total wreck, hair amiss, clothing out of place and hands all trembling. But now that she looked at him, she could see that his old self was back… full of arrogance and confidence once more. He was also wearing an expensive looking navy suit, cleaned and pressed. She could guess what he was doing right now, and she was proud of him. But what truly confused her was… why was he back? Wasn't he dead? Didn't Sesshomaru's bullets pierce his heart and didn't he fall dead into her arms three years ago? How could he be alive?

As if reading her mind, he slowly placed the cup back onto the table and smiled at her, "You must be wondering why and how I could be back, huh?"

Kagome dumbly nodded, unable to find the right words to say at the moment. Her silence invited the man that she once loved to go on.

"You must be thinking; he's dead… why the hell's he back? And I was getting happy…" Kagome cracked a small smile at his attempt to make a joke, but she couldn't laugh. Maybe it was the shock that Kouga wasn't dead… maybe it was the disappointment it wasn't someone else.

"I was actually never dead, Kagome," Kouga matter-of-factly stated as he took another elegant sip of his tea and placed it back onto the table. "Great tea, by the way. Did you make it yourself?"

"Kouga," Kagome said with impatience tinged in her voice. "Tell me what happened."

He smiled at her and crossed his arms, "Never beating around the bush huh? Well okay. I was never dead in the first place. I had merely passed out from the pain and I knew you thought I was dead and had escaped. When gunfire had sounded, I knew for sure that you were dead. But then I heard muffled voices in the background… a sound of someone getting punched… I thought it was you. But then I heard two male voices and yeah… then somebody saved me."

Kagome unexpectedly grabbed his arm, startling him, "Did you hear what they said? Who saved you?"

"Whoa, calm down, and hands off the suit… just got it pressed." Kouga grinned as Kagome shyly retreated back. "Okay, did I hear what they said? Barely. I was still in a lot of pain and could barely stay awake. But I do remember hearing some words being exchanged. Stupid, why, asshole, shut up, won't understand, and… then I completely blacked out."

Kagome sagged in her seat, the hope climbing in her heart now gone. She had hoped Inuyasha had said something about her… maybe an explanation of why Sesshomaru had missed so badly when he fired at her. Why Inuyasha had blocked him. "That doesn't help much."

Kouga smiled at her and shrugged, "And who saved me? I honestly have no idea. I heard footsteps running away… then maybe a few minutes later… somebody lifted me up. Next thing I knew, I was in a hospital. I had asked the nurses who brought me here… they merely shrugged and told me: a friend."

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows at Kouga's tale, trying to figure out who had saved him. Whoever did, she would want to personally thank them. After all these years, guilt had haunted her that Kouga had died because of her. But seeing him alive and well in front of her, she was extremely grateful.

"Kouga, I'm so sorry for what happened."

Kouga put up a hand, silencing her and shook his head. "No, I'm sorry for what happened. Though I still don't understand why those two were attacking you in the first place, Kagome."

Kagome didn't answer. She couldn't answer. She couldn't tell Kouga that one of those men was the person that broke apart their relationship and was still out there finding her to kill her. No. She couldn't tell him. "I-I… don't know."

"Well…"

CLANK!

Both Kagome and Kouga quickly jerked their heads towards the source of noise which was coming from the other side of wall. Kagome abruptly got up onto her feet and Kouga followed subtly afterwards. On the other side of wall, was the bathroom.

Wait.

Bathroom… bath…

INUYASHA!

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as realization dawned upon her. She dashed out of the room and around the wall, panicked. If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself. The only thing that had kept her alive all these years were her son, and she could not afford to lose him even if Kouga was back.

She burst through the room with heavy breaths, and relief immediately washed over her. In front of her, was a wet and frozen little Inuyasha halfway across the room with the water basin knocked over behind him. His eyes were big and afraid and was staring straight at Kagome as Kouga burst in after her, "What's wrong!" His eyes then slowly traveled towards the little boy frozen midway with a towel wrapped around his small, dripping body. Kagome slowly turned to look at Kouga, almost afraid of his reaction. Will he remember little Inuyasha? The little kid that wasn't his? One of the two reasons why they had separated?

To her surprise, Kouga's eyes simply softened and a friendly smile appeared on his face, "Hi there, little one."

Kagome watched silently as Kouga carefully made his way across the room and up to the unmoving Inuyasha and bent down to his level with the same comforting smile on his face. Little Inuyasha had shrunk away a bit and looked at Kagome with a questioning look on his face, but Kagome nodded to assure him that everything was okay. Judging by his stiff posture and reluctant reactions, it seemed that Inuyasha was still unconvinced.

But Kouga didn't give up and he stuck a hand out, "Don't be afraid, little guy. My name's Kouga… your name is Inuyasha right?" Kouga warmly said with his hand still in the air, awaiting Inuyasha's small ones. Kagome stiffened, but then relaxed when she realized that Kouga did not know Inuyasha's name before. He would probably be angry that she had named the child after the father, whom she slept with and cheated on Kouga.

Kagome watched as Inuyasha Jr. slowly extend a dripping hand and shook Kouga's large ones. "Hi." Inuyasha retreated back and cautiously peered at Kouga's face. "H-How did you know my name?"

"Well," Kouga said as he pretended to think, "Your mommy was just telling me what a great kid Inuyasha was… how he would always listen to her and help her whenever she needed. She also said he was a very handsome little boy. So when I looked at you, I knew right away you were Inuyasha."

"Really? Did she really say that?" Inuyasha Jr. quickly said with a bright smile, his eyes lighting up immediately at Kouga's statement. His suspicious demeanor had dropped and Kagome was glad that Inuyasha liked Kouga. It was probably hard for the boy to meet someone new since in the last three years, Kagome had never taken him out, afraid that they would see someone they knew.

"Of course," Kouga assured as he playfully ruffled the kid's wet hair.

Inuyasha Jr. laughed and reached a drenched arm over and ruffled Kouga's nice and brushed ones, earning a surprised gasp from the older man. "Hey! I just combed that! Ooh, you're gonna get it kid!"

Little Inuyasha squealed and ran away from Kouga's extending arms and hid behind his mother. "Mommy! Help! That man gonna attack me!"

Kagome laughed as the two began chasing each other around, one in a formal business suit, the other in only a towel and dripping wet. Her heart warmed when she realized Kouga would not turn away from Inuyasha Jr., even though he wasn't his son. She was grateful for that, knowing that Inuyasha could have someone else besides her.

"Kooga, Kooga," Inuyasha said when they stopped chasing each other around and collapsed onto the floor, panting.

"Yeah?" Kouga wearily replied and looked at the little kid currently inching himself closer to him.

"Are you my daddy?"

Both Kagome and Kouga froze when those four words slipped out of the little child's mouth. Kagome paled up, allowing the doubts of Kouga disliking Inuyasha Jr. to hit her like a tidal wave. Is he mad? Will he be?

Kagome watched in dread as the happy smile on Kouga's face faded, replaced by a disapproving frown. She stared at him, hoping he would sense her apologetic expression but he hadn't turned away from the expecting Inuyasha staring at him curiously, oblivious to both adults' sudden stiffness. "Are you, Kooga, are you?"

Suddenly, Kouga burst out laughing and Kagome couldn't only blink. When the man stopped his chuckling, he ruffled the kid's hair and pulled him extra close. He raised his index finger in front of him and Inuyasha Jr. followed it playfully with his eyes. "First off, my name's not 'Kooga', it's KOUGA. Second of all, I'm not your father, nope. But I could be your friend? How does that sound?" Inuyasha's eyes, who were following Kouga's finger the whole time suddenly bulged. He broke away from his finger and immediately turned his head up at the older man.

"Really, Kouga? You be my frwend?"

"I don't see why not." Kouga answered as he poked the little kid's noise.

Little Inuyasha didn't seem to mind that Kouga wasn't his father, but instead was ecstatic. "Yeeeah! Kouga-sama's my friend! I have a friend! I never had friends before! Yah! Kouga!"

Kouga smiled at the kid, but when he wasn't looking, slipped a questioning glance at Kagome. She could only smile sadly at him, knowing what he was trying to ask her. He was probably surprised that this adorable little kid could not have friends, but luckily, he decided to probe any further. Instead, he hulled up the tiny child and sat him on his arm. "So, we're friends now. Wanna go celebrate?"

"Yah! Let's go celeburate!" Inuyasha agreed enthusiastically as he bounced energetically on the man's arm.

"Whoa, whoa, hold your horses little man."

Kagome laughed at her son's hyperactive personality and shook her head. Kouga laughed with her and then cocked his head at the smiling boy. "How can we celebrate when you're wearing nothing but a dinky towel?"

Little Inuyasha somehow found it extremely funny, and he started laughing hysterically. Both adults laughed along with the happy little kid, and Kagome had never felt so happy in her three years of living here.

"Alright," Kouga said as he bounced little Inuyasha's on his arm. "Let's get you changed… then I'll take you out okay?"

"OKAY!"

Kouga turned to look at Kagome, who had a troubled expression on her face. "What do you think Kagome?"

"Well… I don't know…" she wasn't sure it would be safe to take little Inuyasha out in public. She was still hiding from everything that was happening and definitely did not want to risk her only son. Something in her gut was just simply telling her that it was a bad idea. "I don't think…"

"Oh puh-lease mommy! Pweeease! I promise I'll be extra good!" Little Inuyasha pleaded, Kouga agreeing along with him. "Yeah Kagome… what could happen?"

Kagome looked at the two in amazement. Inuyasha Jr. and Kouga had just met, and she's been with her son for his whole life. Still, he was going on Kouga's side instead of hers? She took another look at the two.

And then something hit her. It was then she couldn't help but think of how good the two looked as son and father, with their faces beaming and their clutches on each other protective and tight.

But why was she feeling this? Wasn't she still in love with Inuyasha and was patiently awaiting for his return? Why was something nagging her to tag along the two and have a nice happy dinner for once? Why was she longing to give up on the inconsistent hiding she had to endure all her life? Why couldn't she be free for once? Free with her son… free with Kouga.

Maybe… just maybe… it was time to let go. Time to start a new life, fresh and anew, and fly free from the past that had been haunting her every night for so long. Maybe it was time to erase all the worries and tears in her life and begin a fresh start… a new life… with her baby… with Kouga.

She looked at Kouga again, his handsome smiling face. Maybe she should give him another chance… if he would accept it. Three years have already passed by, and still no sign of the person whom she wanted to live the rest of her life with. Because now, something is telling her that he wasn't going to come back. Wasn't going to ride by and sweep her off her feet, telling her everything was going to be okay. No. Today, was the only chance that it could be him, but it wasn't. Instead, it was Kouga. Was it a sign? A wake-up call?

Kagome didn't know what to answer. But one thing's for sure:

She's going to that dinner.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Thanks to you guys' reviews and motivation, I really felt inspired to write another chapter! Hopefully, it's not as rushed as last time's. Anyways, here it is and I hoped you enjoyed it. This is for you guys out there )


End file.
